Obituary of Ethel Mae Solomon

1/28/25 – 5/6/19 Ethel Solomon left us on May 6th at 1:15 a.m. after her health failed due to pneumonia. Days earlier Ethel had recounted her life with her friend and health-care assistant, Tracy Lacko, talking about her early life and career with Ohio AT&T where she retired in 1980 after twenty-five years of service. She was lively and enjoyed an old movie during Tracy’s visit. This was the beginning of her illness that would take her life only four days later. Ethel died peacefully surrounded by her two daughters, Nancy Solomon of Youngstown, Ohio, and Marianne Solomon, who she had lived with in Satellite Beach for the last six years. Melanie Musolino comforted her grandmother up until her last breaths, and her grandson, Thomas Musolino, was close by with son-in-law and caregiver, David Driscoll. Prevented from being near their grandmother at the end due to distance, loving granddaughters, Jennifer Milligan and Amy Moran, kept Ethel in their prayers. Ethel was born in Youngstown, Ohio and resided there until meeting her husband-to-be, Master Sergeant James W. Solomon of Nacogdoches, TX, who was stationed nearby in western Pennsylvania before departing for WWII. After the war Ethel and her husband lived in Austria and Germany before returning to Ohio where she lived over 50 years before moving to Florida. Ethel attended Sarah Care in Melbourne routinely throughout her time in Florida, enjoyed all the daily activities, but mainly the music and animals that visited. Elvis was her favorite celebrity, and she commented many times, “I couldn’t live without a (hound) dog.” Cooper and Nikko, the family dogs, greeted Mom each morning to wake her and share her breakfast. Ethel was a generous woman throughout her life, always helping those in need. Since Ethel suffered from moderate Alzheimer’s Disease, she was not always energetic or able to participate fully in events – but she was one of the nicest humans to be found. Always a “please” and “thank you” for her care-givers, no matter the task. She loved ice-cream, which she enjoyed every night while watching reruns of Dancing with the Stars – her favorite show. Ethel was the daughter of Willis and Ethel Stewart Ruhlman. She was preceded in death by her husband, James W. Solomon, and siblings Gomer and Lee Ruhlman, Annette Savino, and Ruth Gould. She is survived by daughter Nancy Solomon of Struthers, OH; daughter Marianne Solomon and son-in-law David Driscoll of Satellite Beach, FL; granddaughter Melanie Musolino and great-granddaughter Thea Musolino of Sebastian FL; granddaughter Jennifer Milligan and great granddaughter Alexis Milligan of Struthers, OH; granddaughter Amy Moran, her husband David Moran, and great grandson Brady Moran of St. Petersburg, FL; grandson Thomas J Musolino of Orlando, FL; and niece Doris Rowbotham of Marble Head, OH. In place of a formal service, a celebration of life is slated for June 2 at Florida Glass House (520 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL). At this time, family members and close friends will gather to create memorial glass pieces containing Ethel’s ashes as a remembrance of a beautiful lady. On so many trips to and from Sarah Care, Mom Ethel would point at the beautiful blue Florida sky or notice the flocks of birds flying by. Mom Ethel is now flying with the birds in the blue skies as she dances with the stars! In the words of the late poet Maya Angelou, “and when great souls die, after a period, peace blooms… Our senses, restored, never to be the same, whisper to us. They existed. They existed. We can be. Be and be better. For they existed.” Please send memorial donations to Alzheimer’s Disease Research.