Ethel was born July 24, 1916, in Cuthbert, Randolph County, Ga. She was the youngest child of Octavia Creech and William Madison Hales.

William and brother, Ransom, moved their families from Johnston County, N.C., to Georgia. They farmed and started a neighborhood Baptist Church.

In 1919 William and Ransom visited Marion County, Fla., and Silver Springs. They liked the area. Each purchased 200 acres, moved possessions by rail and families by car to Ocala. They attended the Cottage Hill Christian Church, when the minister left in 1923; they joined First Christian Church, Ocala.

Ethel excelled in school. She was blessed with good teachers who taught her to love knowledge.

When Ethel was 7-years-old, her father paid for her to take Elocution Lessons after school. Students studied formal speaking with emphasis on pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone. Ethel recited poems and memorized readings.

Ethel was the youngest and never knew the joy of having a younger sibling. She wanted a baby brother or sister. Ethel wrote a letter to Dr. Peek and asked him to bring her mama a baby. The mailman intercepted the letter returning it to her mother, Octavia.

When Ethel got a bit older, she begged her mother to let her spend a day with Ann Stephenson, a black midwife. Her mother agreed and mother rode with her wagon pulled by a mule. Ethel asked Ann to bring her mama a white baby if she had any extra ones.

Ethel's dad was first to grow tobacco in Marion County. They sold it in Georgia. He also started a dairy. Ethel milked 3 cows twice a day; she was just 9 years old.

Ethel's parents were truck farmers. They grew cantaloupes, tomatoes and okra. Picking it and packing in crates was a family activity. It was shipped by rail to Chattanooga, Tenn. One year the rains came and rotted tomatoes on the vines. Ethel did not like cutting okra because it took a long time and the numerous small spines on the pods irritated her skin. Companies paid more for okra.

William was a school teacher in N.C. When 11-year-old Ethel showed an interest in writing, he purchased Ethel an Underwood typewriter from Sears & Roebuck. She began studying the dictionary as a young girl and delighted in learning new words. Ethel sent off many stories and received rejections but she kept on writing.

Ethel's future husband Ralph Stancil had first met Ethel, a precocious 11 year old, in 1927 when he went to Florida with Robert Pittman, a half brother of Fletcher Pittman who married Gertrude Stancil.

12-years-old Ethel won second place in a contest sponsored by the Ocala Star-Banner. They asked readers to critique a certain movie. Ethel won free movie tickets. Her 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Cecil Bryant, won 3rd prize.

The family had many visitors from N.C. Her mother often said that anyone who had ever heard of them stopped by for free room and board! A group of visitors in July 1927 were Uncle Jesse Hales, nephew Robert Pittman, Uncle Abednigo Atkinson, Ralph Stancil and Raymond Hill.

In 1932, Ralph, 24, wrote Ethel a letter inquiring about jobs in Florida. Thus began their courtship by letters. Ralph moved to Dos Rios, Calif., and found work on a ranch.

When Ethel was in High School she worked at McCrory's Five & Ten Cents Store over Christmas break. The store didn't have a set closing time. They never closed until the last customer had finished shopping!

Ethel was a math whiz, earning A++ in algebra. In 1934, after Ethel graduated valedictorian from Ocala High School, Ethel and Ralph arranged to meet at the Stancil Family Reunion in Johnston County, N.C. Ralph rode the Greyhound Bus from California to the reunion. After this visit, they became engaged. Ralph returned to Calif. and Ethel returned to Florida where she started a stenographer business.

In August 1935, Ralph rode the Greyhound Bus from California to Ocala, Fla., arriving three days before the wedding.

He had just enough time to get a marriage license and purchase a small gold wedding band with orange blossoms.

A year later, Ralph and Ethel married on Aug. 21, 1935, in First Christian Church, Ocala. After the ceremony, they rode the Greyhound Bus to Savannah, Georgia, for an overnight stay and then they went on to the Stancil Reunion in Johnston County, North Carolina.

In 1996, Ethel wrote about their courtship in her book, "Love For Keeps."

After the reunion, they rode the Greyhound Bus to California and Ralph's job as foreman of the 10,000-acre ranch, Rodeo Valley Rancho.

In California Ethel met two of Ralph's first cousins, sons of Josiah; Harry Lester Stancil Sr., called Harry, wife Laura, children Chuck, Lester, Joe, Betty, Ellie and Herbert 'Herb' Andrew Stancil, wife Lil, children Patricia, Beverly and Barbara.

Ethel and Ralph moved to California after the trip to North Carolina.

During 1 ½ years on the ranch, both of their fathers died. This prompted a move to Ocala. Ethel applied for a job in 1937 with Cecil Bryant, who managed the Savings and Loan and gas plant. It paid $10 a week. His wife had taught Ethel in 3rd grade. When he mentioned Ethel's name as an applicant she remembered Ethel getting 2nd place in the critiquing movie contest and told her husband that Ethel was very smart and he should hire her, he did. Mr. Bryant's son, Farris, became the 34th governor of Florida.

Ethel and Ralph started Stancils Pineywoods Farm in 1938. Ralph began buying day-old dairy calves and farming. In 1941, Ralph's niece, Grace Golda Renfrow, daughter of his sister Effie, came to live with them. Grace helped feed the calves and catch the mule while she took classes in typing, shorthand and bookkeeping at a WPA (Works Progress Administration) at Camp Roosevelt in Ocala.

When WWII started, Ralph traveled, working in shipyards. Ethel was expecting. First cousin, Nona Belle Creech, from Selma, N.C., came to stay with her. Ethel also supervised the farming. Nona was there to drive her to the hospital when Georgeanne was born.

Ethel worked for Mr. Bryant until 1944 when her second child was born. She joined the neighborhood Cottage Hill Home Demonstration Club and was active until they disbanded in the 1970s.

Ethel sold articles to several magazines and wrote a weekly column, Cottage Hill News, for the Ocala Star Banner. She wrote a monthly column, The Kowbelles, for the Florida Cattlemen magazine. Later in 1984, she and daughter Georgeanne put together a Stancil Family Cookbook.

Life changed forever on Jan. 3, 1951. A drunk driver crashed into Ethel and Ralph's new Studebaker car in S.C. They were returning to Fla. from N.C. The impact pushed the engine back, crushing and breaking Ethel's legs. Ethel wrote about it in her 1999 book, "Not A Leg To Stand On." She spent 9 months in Monroe Memorial Hospital, Ocala.

While in the hospital, Ethel crocheted dresses for kewpie dolls, knitted sweaters for her children, listened to the radio, read magazines and the newspaper daily. She was an inspiration to other patients.

The next reunion Ethel attended was in 1952.

At the 1960 reunion, she started making nametags. This tradition continues today, with her daughter Renn Stancil Hinton and family making nametags for everyone, and keeping up with the Registrations.

Making a living farming was difficult. Ethel decided she needed to return to work. In 1953, she was hired by James S. Weaver. He took over Mr. Bryant's business. Ethel was on crutches, but over time she was able to walk without even using a cane. Mr. Weaver started a CPA firm and Ethel stayed with the firm. Today it is Duggan, Joiner & Company. In 1977, after 25 years of service, the firm honored Ethel with a surprise dinner and set of luggage. Ethel and Ralph began traveling. They toured farms in The Netherlands, England, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand and stayed with farm families. Along with many trips to N.C. they also visited Alaska, Fiji and Hawaii.

Ethel loved her church. She taught Sunday School, was church historian, attended church conventions and served on the evangelism committee. Ethel invited people to church and took neighborhood children. She often invited folks for Sunday dinner.

Ethel retired in 1996 at 80 years old. Now she focused on her first love, writing. Ethel had a wonderful sense of humor. Her last book, "Memories,"" published in 2005, reflected this.

On Friday, June 29, 2001, NW 60th Avenue was officially named Stancil Avenue and the intersection of US Hwy 27 and NW 60th Ave., was officially named Stancil's Corner in honor of Ethel and Ralph Stancil for their contributions to Marion County.

For many years, Ethel and Ralph, hosted a luncheon at Parker's Barbecue for the George Ira Stancil branch. This luncheon was held on the Saturday before the Reunion.

Ralph and Ethel raised their four children on a farm north of Ocala, Fla. They also helped with raising all of the grandchildren.

Ethel Octavia Hales Stancil, George Branch, widow of Ralph Stancil, mother of Georgeanne, Renn, Hale and Harold died Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011. She was 94 ½ years old. Her husband Ralph died on May 9, 2004, at 96.