Ella Inez Fortson, 95, of Jena, passed away on Saturday, October 8, 2016, at the LaSalle Nursing Home of Jena. She was born January 10, 1921 to the union of her parents, Lloyd W. Jones and Hattie Durham Jones. Mrs. Fortson was an active member of the First Baptist Church of Jena and a member of the Green Thumb Garden Club. She and her late husband, Allen Fortson, Jr., were owners and operators of Fortson Hardware in Jena for many years. She loved her friends and family. Services were held at 11 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 11, in the chapel of Kinner and Stevens Funeral Home of Jena with the Revs. Dominick DiCarlo and Terry Townsend officiating. Interment followed in the Nolley Memorial Church Cemetery in Jena under direction of Kinner and Stevens, Inc. of Jena. She was preceded in death by her husband, Allen J. Fortson, Jr.; son, Allen J. Fortson, III; daughter-in-law, Catherine Crawford Fortson; sister, Irene Jones Moore; brother, Joel P. “Sonny” Jones and her parents. Survivors include her daughter, Cherie Fortson Williams and husband Kenny; four grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren. Pallbearers were Steven Carlson, Charlie Heck, Scott Lofton, Jeremy Cassels, Clint Smith and Scott Maxwell.