Ella Mae Tripp is found with her family in the 1930 Federal Census of Donora, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Her parents were Frank S., born in Maine, and Flora, born in Vermont. Ella Mae's siblings, listed in 1930, were Joseph, Hartman, Martha, and Rosemarie.

The father worked at the Donora zinc works. He died 12 Dec 1953 and his wife in June 1964. They are buried at Monongahela Cemetery, Washington County.

Ella Mae participated in the Army Cadet Nursing Corps while a student nurse. According to her father's obituary, she became an Army Nurse.

World War II veteran, Hartman Tripp, born in 1914, died 3 July 1992. A sister, Rose Marie Jones, died in 1983. Their obits indicate that Ella Mae - surname Smale in Hartman's obit - lived in California.