Etta Inez Young, (nee Webb), 94, went home to live eternally with the Lord on September 23, 2023.

Etta was born in New York City on March 21, 1929, to James O. Webb and Bessie Ruth Eubanks. The family, including baby brother James “Joey,” eventually settled in Cleveland, Ohio. While Etta lived in North Carolina, Florida, and Texas, she always called Northeast Ohio home.

Etta graduated from Glenville High School in 1947. Continuing the legacy of her mother and aunts, Etta attended Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, graduating in 1952 with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science and minors in Education and Psychology. She earned a Master of Arts in Education from Cleveland State University in 1972. A life-long learner, Etta was still completing online coursework at Harvard University in the months preceding her death. Whenever asked how she stayed so vibrant, Etta shared her signature wisdom: “Never stop moving. Never stop learning.”

While at Spelman, a shared cab ride with a Detroit-born boy in a big, white hat sparked a 27-year love affair. That boy, James “Jimmy” Nabrit Young, a junior at Morehouse College, located directly across the street from Spelman, courted his “Peaches” by losing that strange hat, handwriting love letters, and sending Paschal’s fried chicken sandwiches to her dorm. Etta and Jimmy married in an intimate ceremony in Atlanta on February 22, 1951. After graduating, the two made their home in Cleveland where they lovingly raised two daughters, Gail Deborah Peterson and Karen Diane Sales.

For nearly twenty years, Etta shaped public education in Cleveland at Joseph Landis Elementary School. An award-winning educator, Etta refused to accept any limitations placed on her as a teacher in a segregated public school. Instead, she opened worlds for her students, exposing them to live theater, the symphony, art and history museums as well as domestic and international travel. Etta took special care with the students other teachers gave up on, turning “problem kids” into high school valedictorians. Not only did she change the lives of those in her classroom, but also, she helped protect the rights of public school workers as the Union Conference Chairperson at Landis, shepherding her colleagues through the 1978 teachers’ strike. Etta retired from Landis in 1984.

From her interior decorating business, EIY Interiors, award-winning flower beds, and her time as a consultant for Estée Lauder cosmetics, Etta delighted in beauty. For Etta, appreciating beauty allowed her to marvel at the greatness of God. None of Etta’s accomplishments, relationships, or accolades can be understood without recognizing the depth of her faith. After being baptized on April 3, 1942, at Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland and laboring in many volunteer positions there, Etta continued demonstrating her love for Christ by serving others through the American Red Cross, Akron General Hospital, the Mayo Clinic, Duke Medical Center, the Chapel Hill, NC, Police Department, the Durham Rescue Mission as well as many nursing, hospice, and jail ministries.

Etta is predeceased by husband, James Nabrit Young; daughter and son-in-law, Gail Deborah and Noah A.C. Peterson; parents, James O. Webb and Bessie Ruth Eubanks; grandmothers, Sarah Etta Brown and Fannie Inez Eubanks; grandfather, Richard Eubanks; sister-in-law, Frankie Webb; and dear friend, Marvin McMichael.