Ella “Gram” Gaskins, 104, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, of heart failure at Henry Medical Center in Stockbridge, Ga. A free spirit who never had her own children, Mrs. Gaskins raised three children–Carol Jackson, a family friend’s child, from the age of 6 months; Deborah Tillman, from the age of 16; and Alisha Saunders. “She had always extended her hand to help financially or otherwise,” said Tillman. “She wasn’t related to us, but she took care of us more than our own family did.” A native of Brooksville, Miss., Mrs. Gaskins moved to Chicago at age 27 with her late husband, James. Mrs. Gaskins, who mostly did domestic work, lived by herself from 1954, when her husband died, to 1998, when she went to live with Jackson in Georgia. Mrs. Gaskins, who would have turned 105 on March 1, was described as a fighter by her family. She had written an obituary for herself in 1981, detailing all the songs she would like to be sung at her funeral. “She used to say, `Sing them as if I’m listening,'” said Tillman. Other survivors include a great-nephew, Jimmy Clemons. Services were held Saturday.
