Orena Mital Ford

Orena Mital Ford met her Lord and Savior on February 28th surrounded by her family at the age of 96. Mother leaves behind a legacy that we would all like to achieve. Proverbs 31 describes our mother perfectly but verse 28 says “Her children rise and call her blessed”. How we were blessed to have her in our lives for so many years and what a Christian example she was to anyone that knew her. She will leave a void in our hearts but her family will continue the legacy that she taught us. She was born to well known local grocers, Ben and Jennie Cecil Hartley on September 20, 1923 in Cleveland. The family moved to Illinois during the depression so Ben could find work and that was where she was educated. She returned to Cleveland after her marriage in 1945 to Eddie Mital. They were parents to four daughters who were raised in Cleveland, where Eddie became a successful and well known building contractor in the 1960’s. Orena was his bookkeeper and interior decorator, as well as wife, mother and homemaker. Four years after his death in 1973, Orena married Joseph Ford, a widower in Cleveland with four grown children of his own. They had many happy years together, traveling and selling their own stone ground corn meal at flea markets and festivals. During those years, Orena returned to writing in her spare time, writing two books of poetry as well as her testimony and A Walk through the Psalms in Poetry and Praise. She was a member of Michigan Avenue Baptist Church. She was preceded in death by her parents; both of her husband’s; sisters, Margaret Scarbeary, Marie Sullivan, and Dorothy Arthington; grandson, Dustin Ledford; and step-daughter, Jean(Joe) Cannon. Survivors include her daughters: Linda (Glenn) McConnell of Charlotte, NC, Sherry (Gene) North of Morristown, TN, Debby (Tommy) Mainor of Dayton, and Kim (Danny) Ledford of Cleveland; nine grandchildren; twenty three great grandchildren; several beloved nieces and nephews; step-children, Jerry (Carolyn) Ford of Inman, SC, Judy (Lionel) Frazier of Wheelersburg, Ohio, and Ginger Ford of Florida; also her beloved caregivers who helped keep her in her home, Rita Copeland, Sharon Holder, Donna Carter, Lorrie Rose Kenney, and Charlotte Johnson. Her family would like to thank Dr. Renee Collins and especially Caris Hospice Care for their love and caring for mother the past two months. Funeral services will be conducted at 11:00 a.m. Monday, March 2, 2020 in the chapel of Fike-Randolph & Son Funeral Home with her grandson, David North and Pastor Mike Wallin of Michigan Avenue Baptist Church officiating. Interment will follow in Sunset Memorial Gardens with her grandsons serving as pallbearers. Her family will receive friends from 2:00-5:00 p.m. on Sunday at the funeral home and from 10:00-11:00 a.m. on Monday at the funeral home prior to the service. The family requests memorials may be made to the Dustin Ledford Memorial Scholarship Fund, or to a charity of choice. We invite you to send a message of condolence and view the Mital-Ford family guestbook at www.fikefh