Private services for Ernestine Ross Jordan, mother of singer Diana Ross, were held Wednesday afternoon at St Andrew's Catholic Church at Wayne State University.

Mrs. Jordan, 68, died Tuesday of cancer at her Southfield home.

Born in Allensville, Ala., Mrs. Jordan was the youngest of 12 children of the Rev and Mrs. William Moten. At 21, Mrs. Jordan moved to Detroit, where she met and married Fred Earl Ross in 1942. They later divorced. Mrs. Jordan married John Jordan in 1977.

IN A 1973 interview with the Free Press, Mrs. Jordan recalled that Diana's rise to fame took the family out of the Brewster-Douglas housing project and "put a little money in our pockets."

Still her daughter's success did not change her. Mrs. Jordan insisted. "I now live her, there, everywhere. But I haven't changed myself," she said.

"All my friends tell me that I haven't changed a bit," she added.

Besides Diana and her husband, Mrs. Jordan is survived by two daughters, Dr. Barbara Lee and Marguerita; three sons,, Fred, Arthur and Wilbert; four sisters, Mary Peyton, Lucille Williams, Willie Thomas and Virginia Moten; a brother, Gus Moten; 13 grandchildren; nieces and nephews; cousins, and many friends.

Burial was in Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit.

Obituary from the Detroit Free Press Friday, October 12, 1984.

Private services for Ernestine Ross Jordan, mother of singer Diana Ross, were held Wednesday afternoon at St Andrew's Catholic Church at Wayne State University.

Mrs. Jordan, 68, died Tuesday of cancer at her Southfield home.

Born in Allensville, Ala., Mrs. Jordan was the youngest of 12 children of the Rev and Mrs. William Moten. At 21, Mrs. Jordan moved to Detroit, where she met and married Fred Earl Ross in 1942. They later divorced. Mrs. Jordan married John Jordan in 1977.

IN A 1973 interview with the Free Press, Mrs. Jordan recalled that Diana's rise to fame took the family out of the Brewster-Douglas housing project and "put a little money in our pockets."

Still her daughter's success did not change her. Mrs. Jordan insisted. "I now live her, there, everywhere. But I haven't changed myself," she said.

"All my friends tell me that I haven't changed a bit," she added.

Besides Diana and her husband, Mrs. Jordan is survived by two daughters, Dr. Barbara Lee and Marguerita; three sons,, Fred, Arthur and Wilbert; four sisters, Mary Peyton, Lucille Williams, Willie Thomas and Virginia Moten; a brother, Gus Moten; 13 grandchildren; nieces and nephews; cousins, and many friends.

Burial was in Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit.

Obituary from the Detroit Free Press Friday, October 12, 1984.