Emma Lois Mostella

It is with deep sympathy we announce the passing of Emma L. Mostella of Gadsden, AL, who transitioned on Sunday, December 4, 2022, at the age of 82.  We ask that you keep her family and friends in your thoughts and prayers during the difficult time.  

Emma Lois Mostella was born July 25, 1940, to Mr. Herbert W. Mostella Sr. and Mrs. Edith Melinda Turner Mostella on Sandusky Lane, in Alabama City, Alabama.  She was the maternal granddaughter of Reverend Payton Turner and Elvira Moor-Turner, and the paternal granddaughter of Marion Colfax Mostella and Ida Mae Curry Mostella, all of Ashville, Alabama. 
 
Raised primarily on Shorter Avenue in Attalla, Emma spent her formative years surrounded by a loving family and a host of aunts and uncles, and numerous cousins and friends. Emma was the youngest, the shyest, and the most reserved among her siblings.
 
Emma’s most enduring legacy was her dynamic personal example and determination through hardship, which was birthed in her early life. At the tender age of 4, mere days after her birthday, she faced the loss of her father. Out of sheer will and determination, she pursued and obtained her nursing degree during the turbulent civil rights era, and forged a nursing and counseling career.
Emma returned to Alabama in 1997 and made her home in Gadsden. Here, she briefly volunteered at Serenity House — again playing an important role in the sobriety of many. She was a major contributor to the Mostella and Turner Family History project. Although Emma never bore children, she was instrumental in rearing, providing for; nurturing, and inspiring dozens of nieces and nephews, and grand-nephews and nieces.  She has closed the book having now influenced three generations that follow her.
 
Emma Lois expressed in Christ at an early age, and in recent years reaffirmed her walk of faith, having confessed that she was ready to meet the Lord.

She attended church and sang in the choir with sisters Elizabeth and Geraldine. She graduated from Norris High School in 1958 and briefly attended A & M University, before moving to Buffalo, NY.
 
Emma’s nursing career spanned 21 years.  Although she served primarily in Geriatrics, she also gained recognition in Burn treatment and Cardiac arrest units. She then parlayed her nursing expertise and her personal sobriety journey into an 11-year stint as a Certified Substance Abuse Counselor. In addition to serving as an Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor for dozens of recovering alcoholics, she became a founder of Buffalo’s first, Black-owned halfway house for women.

She passed from this life peacefully in the early morning of Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022, in East Gadsden, Alabama.
 
Emma was preceded in death by her father, Herbert 1897-1944, her mother, Edith Melinda 1898-1968, and her siblings:  Marion (Bernice Whiteside Mostella) 1921-1979, Willard Alsom Mostella 1923-1977, Geraldine Catherine Mostella Marbury  (Shelly Marbury)1926-1993, Herbert Mostella Jr. 1929-1968, Jerry Mostella Sr. 1923-2002, Elizabeth Mostella 1933-2011, Benny Burnett (Helen) 1935-2000, Mary Joann 1937-1974, and her younger brother, Isaac 1942-1942. She was also preceded in death by her beloved nephew, Marion Mostella Jr, Michelle Mostella Wilson, Willard Mostella Jr., Arlene Mostella, Edith “Terissa” Mostella, Beverly Mostella Cain, Deborah Mostella Bowman, Stephanie Massey, Kenneth Mostella, Faith Twymon, and others.
 
She is survived by a host of nieces and nephews, many of whom she helped to care for and raise. Herbert (Cathy) Mostella Sr., Willie (Ora) Mostella, Pastor(s) Gregory (Michelle) Mostella, Daniel (Shandra) Mostella, Barney (Tamera) Mostella, and Sandra Mostella Harris, Michelle Marbury, Bishop Larry Poole, Ricky (Dyra) Sears, Jerry Banks Sr., Jerry (Emily) Mostella, Benny Mostella Jr., Veronica Mostella, Ashley Mostella, Debra Mostella, Brenda Mostella Levitan, Sonya Mostella, Cynthia Mostella, Pastor Billie (Dale) Miller, Margaret “Faye” Johnson, and Catherine Williams.

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