Ella Laura Fields was born to George and Teresa Fields in their home, November 30, 1928 in Conifer, Colorado.

She was the youngest of 10 children and the longest survivor reaching the advanced age of 96. Her next oldest sibling was Peggy who died 4 days short of her 96th birthday.

Her early childhood was spent on her parent's ranch at Pleasant Park, Colorado where she and her closest sibling, Peggy enjoyed playing in the pine trees making little bouquets from the wildflowers the grew in the pine forest that surrounded their home. She and Peggy also loved playing with the baby chickens her father and mother raised. Each little chick became a playmate and companion. She learned not only how to care for chickens but also how to maximize their productivity and how to protect their health. She was an expert in diagnosing chicken maladies.

She attended grade school in Pleasant Park then attended Evergreen High School when her family moved from the family ranch to Conifer where her father and mother ran a Conoco gas station and small grocery store. The gas station and store was not only a source of income and venue for marketing their farm produce it was also a hub for social interaction for the family and community. Ella and her siblings helped with the stocking and sales at their early version of a "Convenience Store."

In her late teens, Ella went to Bennett, Colorado to live with her sister Mabel Chilson. There she helped with the care of Mabel and Jess's young children as well as help with the care of the livestock. While at Bennett, Ella was invited by Mrs. Taylor to special services at the Bennett Baptist Church. It was at those special services she accepted Christ as her personal Savior. She was Baptized April 6, 1947 as an act of obedience and testimony of her faith in Christ by Pastor Evans. She was immediately included in that vibrant and active church. The church had a very active youth group. It was there she met Arnold Layne. Ella noticed that Arnold was hanging out with this really cute blonde. Consequently, she dismissed any thought of him being interested in her. Unknown to her, Arnold had indeed noticed Ella and commented to the cute blonde "that is the girl I am going to marry." The cute blonde was Arnold's cousin Barbara.

That encounter in youth group turned into a romance that lasted until May 15, 2025 when Ella left this earth and joined Arnie and a host of friends and family. Though Arnie died August 21, 2016 he was still Ella's first and only love. She continued mourning his loss until she died.

Arnold and Ella were married August 29, 1947. They farmed in Wiggins, Colorado where they experienced the hardship of prairie life in Eastern Colorado. It was a hostile environment of drought, desert, cactus, yucca, coyotes, badgers, jack rabbits, prairie dogs, sand tortoises and rattlesnakes. In that hostile environment Arnie and Ella established a small Grade a Dairy and a very productive sugar beet and small grain irrigated farm. Though they were good farmers, their efforts were frustrated by 7 years of hail and failing water supply when their irrigation wells went dry. Early in their marriage Arnie had health problems and soon had to give up farming. Arnie and Ella transitioned to city life in Aurora, Colorado preceded by a short stay in Greeley, Colorado.

While they were at Wiggins, their sons Arnold (Barry) and Paul Michael were born. Though named after his father, Arnold Barry was called Barry and though named Paul Michael, he was called Mike. Arnie called him "Mike the little tyke" when he was an infant.

Ella and Arnie adapted well to city life where Ella's love of nurturing little bucket calves and abandoned lambs soon turned to nurturing newborns through foster care for infants who were relinquished by their parents for adoption. During her years of providing foster care for Lutheran Family Services she cared for more than 65 newborns. It is difficult to imagine caring for that many newborns with all the night-time feedings, colic and diaper changes going on for years and years with the babies never sleeping through the night.

In May of 1964, Ella was blessed by another son, David Keith A.K.A. "Davie." She nurtured him while balancing the responsibilities of two older teenage sons as well as continuing to care for her foster children. Ella was always in a state of overload with things she loved to do. She loved the children she fostered, her ceramics, her sewing, upholstery, cooking, gardening and canning.

She and Arnie moved to Vermillion, South Dakota in 1975. During her years in South Dakota she was blessed by a myriad of friends both through her help with the tool and die fabrication business Arnie started in Vermillion. Layne Manufacturing and her ceramic dolls became her new focus in addition to raising chickens, calves, ducks and turkeys. She formed friends quickly and was grief stricken whenever she was separated from them either through death or distance.

In 2018 Ella moved from the acreage she and Arnie lived on in Vermillion to the Bethesda Inn Independent Living in Beresford, South Dakota. Her family was convinced that the only reason she chose to move to Bethesda was because they provided independent living and she would be in the same town as her dear widow friend Lorraine Carlson. At Bethesda she quickly made friends with multiple individuals. The setting at Bethesda was great for Ella because now she had a continual flow of people she could team with to fight the "system" that was designed to get you into a nursing home. She fought and threatened her family; You better never put me in a nursing home! Weakened by a broken femur in October 2024 and subsequent decline, Ella passed from this life into the arms of her Savior, Jesus Christ May 15, 2025 At the age of 96 years, 5 months and 15 days. Her family is rejoicing foremost because she is in heaven and out of the pain and struggle. She is reunited with her beloved Arnie and they never had to put her in a nursing home!

Ella was preceded in death by her parents, Arnie, her siblings, her daughter-in-law Val and a host of friends and extended family.

Ella is survived by her three sons, Barry (Sarah) of Arvada, Colorado, Paul of Vermillion, David (Jass) of Aurora, Colorado, 4 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren, 8 great great grandchildren (with 2 more great great grandchildren to be born in 2025), and hundreds of nieces, nephews, great great nieces and nephews, great great great nieces and nephews.

Ella and Arnie made it their priority to teach each of their children the truth of the Gospel from the very start of their lives. She taught Barry his first memory verse after he fell down a long flight of stairs and thought he was going to die. That verse is the well-known verse:

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Ella's favorite scripture verse, a portion of which is inscribed on her headstone is: II Corinthians 5:8 "We are confident, I say and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."

Ella prayed for her family and friends believing: Nothing lies outside the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the will of God