Ella Susanna Hoelzer was born on December 14, 1900, in Wyoming Township in Lee County, Illinois. She was the second of eight children of Christina née Zimmerman and John Hoelzer. She married William Peter Bittner on December 12, 1922 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in rural Brooklyn Township in Lee County, Illinois. Their marriage was blessed with three children, two girls, Kathryn and Dorothy, and one son, William E. Bittner. Their lives were saddened by the death of their six year old daughter, Kathryn, on December 27, 1930. Ella's husband of 50 years, passed away on January 11, 1973. Ella passed away on July 10, 1985 at Mendota Community Hospital in Mendota, La Salle County, Illinois. Funeral services were held on July 13, 1985 at Immanuel Lutheran Church, with the Reverend David Patterson officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery. She was survived by her son, William of Paw Paw, and one daughter, Dorothy [James Lord] of La Moille, Illinois. She was also survived by two sisters, Laura Pohl and Anna Politsch, and one brother, Harold Hoelzer. Preceding her in death were her husband, William, her daughter, Kathryn, and four brothers. John, Christian, Edward, and Wilbur Hoelzer.

Siblings:
• John George Hoelzer (1899–1961) [Minnie Kaufmann]
• Anna Margaretha Dorothea Hoelzer (1902–1989) [William Politsch]
• Christian Oskar Hoelzer (1904–1904) [-]
• Laura Margaretha Hoelzer (1905–1994) [Edward Pohl]
• Edward Conrad Hoelzer (1906–1983) [Hilda Winters]
• Wilbur Conrad Hoelzer (1908–1968) [Arlene Kaiser]
• Harold George Hoelzer (1910–1998) [Anna Simpson]

Children:
• Kathryn Anna Bittner (1924-1930) [-]
• Dorothy Laura Bittner (1926-1995) [James Lord]
• William E. Bittner (1934-2007) [Rosina Wilhelm]