Ellen Noblet Hamblin

Ellen Noblet Hamblin, 96 years, passed peacefully in her sleep in her Georgia home on Sunday morning February 9, 2025, after a short illness surrounded by her loving family. She was a lifelong Catholic and most recently a parishioner at St Francis of Assisi in Cartersville. 

She is survived by four daughters Shirley Bickell of Michigan, Patricia Cox of Florida, Janice Gay of Georgia, Cathy Clark of Florida, eight grandchildren and seventeen of eighteen great grandchildren.  

Ellen was born in Rochdale, England on March 19, 1928. She was the second of three children and spent her early years living with her parents, John Noblet and Jane Sanderson Noblet and her sister, Jean Noblet Bucknarish in England, Turkey and later in Peru with her Peruvian born brother Anthony. It was in Lima, Peru that she met her late husband of 53 years, Morris Hamblin, a young navy sailor during WWII. After dating for 5 yrs, she travelled to New York where they were married in St Patrick’s Cathedral. They lived in Detroit, MI  before moving to Ohio where she became a US citizen. Always looking for warmer weather, they continued south, living in Jacksonville, FL and Waycross, GA before settling in Pinellas County, FL. 

Ellen always enjoyed fashion. She put her abilities as a talented seamstress to sew everything from parochial school uniforms to Vogue creations. While raising their four daughters, Ellen returned to school earning her PHD in Modern Languages from Florida State University in 1977. She then went on to teach Spanish, French and English for the next 25 years at Hillsborough Community College. Every summer, she led study abroad students to the University of Valencia in Spain for Spanish and English studies. She and Morris loved Spain where they met many life-long friends. At the age of 65, she walked as a pilgrim on the Road of St James also known as Camino De Santiago in Spain. After her husband died in 2000, she continued to teach both in the US and Spain finally retiring in 2003.  

The desire to live abroad still called and she moved to Valencia, Spain for a few years.  

After returning to the US, she enjoyed hosting card parties with her neighbors. 

She found great joy in cruising and dancing, visiting ports all over the world. She also enjoyed her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She was known as the notorious” baby bandit” only relinquishing them to parents for feedings. 

She was loved and will be greatly missed. A funeral mass will be at St Francis of Assisi in Cartersville, Georgia on April 2, 2025, at 11am followed by burial in Honey Creek Woodlands memorial nature preserve in Conyers, Georgia at 3pm located within the Monastery of the Holy Spirit’s property. 

In lieu of flowers, contributions to the American Cancer Society or St Francis of Assisi Building Fund would be appreciated in memory of Ellen Noblet Hamblin.