Mr. JIMMIE LELL HAS 'BEEN BLESSED'

   Mr. Jimmie Lell, 89, born June 2, 1935, is married to Mrs. Sarah Good Lell; they live in Travelers Rest, SC. They joined Faith Temple Church in 1970 and have always belonged to the Willing Workers Sunday School Class.

“I remember teachers Emily Reynolds, Connie Bishop, John Few, Jon White, Don Lollis, and Beatrice Whitman,” Jimmie says. “I get a lot out of Sunday School.” 

  

Jimmie’s parents were the late Mr. Lee Roy Lell and Mrs. Carrie Lou Bell Lell. His two brothers have passed on. His sister died at birth. 

  

“Mother died at 54 due to a gall bladder operation,” Jimmie says. “Dad died at 64 from cirrhosis. He drank when younger but quit. After Mother died, he remarried and drank again, socially. I talked to him, but it didn’t do any good.”

  

Jimmie recalls World War II. 

  

“I remember President Roosevelt. I was seven, and they were going to draft my dad,” Jimmie says. His father worked at Slater Mill (Slater Manufacturing Company) as a “tie in” (working with yarn) employee. He had an essential job at the textile mill, and that kept him from being drafted early during the war. “Before they could draft him, the war ended. I was fishing with Gene Addington down on the Saluda River, and Buddy Stephenson came and told us the war ended.”

  

A 1953 Slater-Marietta High School graduate, Jimmie’s birth family rented and then bought a 

Slater mill village house. His parents bought that house in 1940 with no interest charged, and they paid $7.00 a month for their house payment. 

  

His whole family joined Slater Baptist Church in 1942. Jimmie was 12 when the preacher prayed with him to receive Jesus. Two uncles on his mother’s side were Church of God preachers: the Rev. Silven Bell, who died at 82 in an auto accident; and the Rev. Wade Bell, who died at 99.

  

Jimmie first worked as an early-morning newspaper delivery boy. At age 14, he began working for 35 cents an hour at W.H. Garrard’s Grocery. He married at age 18, and at 19, worked for Slater Mill, where his father worked. 

  

Jimmie and his first wife had a daughter, but they divorced when their daughter was five. As soon as he divorced at age 25, he was drafted by the U.S. Army. Slater Mill held his job for him. He spent time at Ft. Houston, Va. He drove a truck, then worked as a driver for a colonel and then a general. He drove a truck for six months in Germany during the Berlin Crisis. He served as a truck driver in Panama City, Florida, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. 

  

He ended his Army service in 1962 and returned to weaving at Slater Mill. He married Sarah in 1969. Sarah brought Daughter Jehalia to the marriage; they adopted Tisha; they also have sons Chad, Blair, and Chaun. They built their present house 54 years ago in 1970. 

  

As a Slater Mill weaver, Sarah retired at age 64. Jimmie’s last job was as a loom fixer for over 10 years. He had worked 50 years at Slater Mill, including his Army service, when he retired at age 68.   

  

“We’ve really been blessed,” Jimmie says.