Obituary of Ellen Mae Thurston

Ellen Mae Thurston, born April 24, 1946, passed away peacefully surrounded by her loved ones on August 29, 2024. Ellen graduated from Groton Central High school in 1965. She was active in many sports especially softball and clubs such as 4H as well as the Brownie Club of Girl Scouts. After high school, Ellen moved to Homer and started a vending business until she accepted a position at Buckbee Mears Corporation in Cortland, NY. She worked many years there until the company closed their doors. Ellen relocated to Walton, NY for 6 years where she took great pride in being a nanny andcleaning homes. She loved to clean homes. After the 6 years passed, she relocated to Maryland for many years where she had a very successful business called “Eming’s Barbeque Restaurant,” in Bishopville, M.D., and “Bud’s Deli,” in Ocean City, M.D., on the boardwalk. After many years, she sold the businesses to move back to Cortland to be with family and became a store manager at Walmart Supercenter, until getting lung cancer, which the surgery for the cancer disabled her for life. Although being disabled for the past 23 years, she has been strong and overcame many obstacles due to her disability. She was a fun, loving, and caring person that loved to spend time with family. She was also a very outdoorsy person that loved flowers, gardening, and mowing the lawn. She also loved to shop at stores and travel to see the Amish in Landcaster, P.A., with her sister Sue Hatfield and longtime best friend Sharon Bishop. She is predeceased by her (boyfriend) Paul C. Fleming of Cortland, (father) Clayton Thurston, (mother) Marybell Bartlett Thurston, all of Cortland area. She is survived by her (son) Albert William Dale Drake Jr. (wife) Ellise-Jane Drake, (grandchildren) Nicholas Guinto-Russo, Zachary Mallory, Madalyn Mallory, all in Cortland, N.Y. (Great grandchildren) Mila Allen, Barry Allen, Marcus Tracy. She is also survived by her (brother) John Thurston, of Cortland, (brother) Danny Thurston of Trumansburg, N.Y., (brother) Ronald Thurston of Victor, N.Y., (sister) Sue Ellen Thurston (Harvey Hatfield), (niece) Kelly Hatfield (Kurt Willard), (nephew) Brian Hatfield both of Cortland, N.Y. She is also survived by her (nephew) Clayton Thurston and Nicholas Thurston of Trumansburg, N.Y., (nephew) Terry Thurston (Sheila Thurston) of Bloomfield, N.Y., (great nephew) Kameron Diescher (Payton Corl) of Cincinnatus, N.Y., (great niece) Kassandra Sue Diescher (Jeff Warner) of Groton, N.Y., (great nephew) Kyle Willard of Groton, N.Y., Kristopher Willard of Groton, N.Y. She is also survived by (great great nieces and nephews) Malea Mae Diescher, McKinley Warner, Maddox Warner. In lieu of flowers please donate to the American Cancer Society, http://donate.cancer.org. To offer online condolences please visit www.wright-beard.com