Necrology, January 2021
"For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed,
we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
In Sequential Order
Bro. Ray Anthony Haney, an active member of Holly Grove AME Church, North Little Rock, Arkansas, son of former Twelfth Episcopal District Supervisor, Mrs. Flossie Walker Green |
Lady Ellen A. Okoli, the wife of Presiding Elder Chuma Okoli, mother of Rev. Crystal Okoli, and First Lady of the North Houston District in the Texas Annual Conference of the Tenth Episcopal District (Announced November 2020) |
Jorian “JD” Caldwell, the son of Rev. Tina Wallace, Associate Minister, St, James Fort Worth, in the Northwest Texas Annual Conference of the Tenth Episcopal District (Announced November 2020) |
Ms. Barbara Alston, the sister of Reverend Dr. George Hicks, Pastor of Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Lancaster District, Columbia Annual Conference and the sister-in-law of Mrs. Felita Grady-Hicks, WMS Conference President of the Women’s Missionary Society of the Columbia Annual Conference of the Seventh Episcopal District of the AME Church |
Sister Bettie Bellamy, sister of Pastor Joseph L. Brooks, Pastor of Mt. Zion AME Church, Oakland, Florida, and sister-in-law of Rev. Lamarda Brooks, Eleventh Episcopal District |
Deacon Robert Roland Harris, Sr., the brother of Rev. Dr. Sheila E. Harris, pastor of St. James AME Church, Chattanooga, Tennessee and the late Rev. Dr. Sylvia A. Harris and the late Rev. Fred “Ricky” Harris, Thirteenth Episcopal District |
Sister Emma Gean Marshall, the mother of Pastor Aquinette K. Harrison, Pastor of New Bethel AME Church, Lacoochee, Florida and Mother in Love of Rev. Claude Harrison of the Eleventh Episcopal District |
Brother Edward Dixon, Jr., the brother of Sister Linda Massey and Brother in Love of Pastor Frank L. Massey, Pastor of St. Paul AME Church, Winter Garden, Florida, Eleventh Episcopal District |
The Reverend Wesley Andrew David Legolie, servant pastor, Fifteenth Episcopal District having served the following AME Churches at the following locations: Victoria West, Tulbagh, Salt River, Bonteheuwel, Victory in Worcester, Hunter in Paarl, De Wet and again Victory in the Boland and Cape Annual Conferences |
The Reverend Allen C. Mitchell, Jr., the husband of Reverend Tammy Mitchell, Pastor of Remnant AME Church, Atlantic City District, New Jersey Annual Conference, First Episcopal District |
The Reverend Rudolph P. Gibbs, Sr., Retired AME Pastor, First Episcopal District, age 89, of Rahway, NJ, who passed from this life into eternal life at Prince William County Medical Center, in Manassas, VA |
Mrs. Thomasina Hunter Williams, the sister of Ms. Wilhelmenia Miller, Administrative Assistant to Bishop James, as well as a lifelong member of High Heels AME Church, Dalzell, South Carolina |
The Reverend Zelma Bostick, Itinerate Elder and a member of Grant AME Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts, serving in the Philadelphia Annual Conference at Jones Tabernacle AME Church, Philadelphia before moving to the New England Annual Conference; she was a proud US Navy Veteran, First Episcopal District |
Mr. James "Chester" Jennings, Jr., Retired, Illustrator, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., a U.S. Navy Veteran, the father of AME Church ordained itinerant elder, CDR Glenda Jennings Harrison, Chaplain, U.S. Navy, retired, Second Episcopal District |
Mr. Boyce E. Wilkins, Sr., father of Rev. Boyce E. Wilkins, Jr, Pastor of Mullin Chape AME Church, Shelbyville, TN, and father-in-law of Sis. Tonya Wilkins, Thirteenth Episcopal District |
Mr. Robert Saunders, the brother of Mark Raglin and the brother-in-law of Rev. Stephanie Raglin, pastor of Embry Chapel AME Church, Elizabethtown, KY and, President of Women In Ministry 13th Episcopal District; and the brother of Sis. Mary Raglin, the Kentucky Conference YPD Director |
Mrs. Anna Marie Goff, the Area Consultant, the spouse of Reverend Dr. Norvel Goff, Sr., Treasurer of the Seventh Episcopal District and Presiding Elder of the Edisto District, South Carolina Annual Conference of the Seventh Episcopal District |
First Lady Jackie Hooten-Brantley, the wife of Reverend Erroll Brantley, Pastor of Mt. Zion AMEC-Trussville, Alabama, Ninth Episcopal District |
Mr. Kevin Barksdale (42 years old), youngest son of the Reverend Otelia Barksdale Osahon, Pastor of New Hope African Methodist Episcopal Church in Chatham, Virginia, Second Episcopal District |
Mr. Lawrence E. Williams, Sr., a member of Bonner Institutional AME Church, Jackson, Mississippi, the brother of the Reverend Caroline Claiborn, Pastor of Bonner Institutional AME Church, Jackson, Mississippi, Eighth Episcopal District |
Sister Zolela Zelda Mexico, the youngest sister of the Reverend Albert Mandisi Mexico, Presiding Elder of the Capitol District-MM Mokone Annual Conference, Nineteenth Episcopal District |
The Reverend Alphonso E. McGlen, pastor of Gaston Chapel AME Church, Morganton, North Carolina in the Western North Carolina Conference, Second Episcopal District |
Mr. Lionel Maurice Lee, father of First Lady Tiffany Lee Jefferson and father-in-law of Rev. Andre’ P. Jefferson, Jr., Pastor of New Allen Memorial AME Church in Franktown, Second Episcopal District |
Sister Cora Thornton, the mother of Reverend Venita Farness, Pastor of Allen Chapel AMEC (Woodlawn) in Birmingham, Alabama, Ninth Episcopal District |
The Reverend Dr. Vera Alice Bagneris, Itinerant Elder and Chaplain in the AME Church, who passed away from the coronavirus, the eldest sister to Rev. Bobbie D. Bagneris, associate minister at Johnson Chapel AMEC-Santa Ana, CA, and Ms. Barbara L. Bagneris, Past National Second Vice President of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; Rev. Jules S. Bagneris, III., PhD, former president of the Southern California AME Ministerial Alliance and former senior pastor of Walker Temple AME Church, in Los Angeles, California, Fifth Episcopal District and, Rev. Dr. Felicia R. Bagneris, Pastor and District Administrator, Third Episcopal District |
Chaplain Carroll R. Chambliss, US Navy (Ret), the first AME Church US Navy Chaplain, author of “The Church of My Choice” and husband of the Late Mrs. Christene Helen Knew Chambliss, former Connectional WMS Officer and former President of the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women, North America Area |
Mrs. Alice Price, the mother of Mrs. Cheryl Myers and the mother-in-law of the Reverend Shelton Myers, pastor of Oak Grove AME Church, Kentwood, Louisiana., Eighth Episcopal District |
Mrs. Yvonne B. Guy, the mother of The Reverend Lloyd Guy, Pastor of Mount Everett A. M. E. Church, and the Mother-in-law of The Reverend Mary Guy, Eighth Episcopal District |
Mr. Jacob Tsitsi, the eldest brother of The Reverend Zacharia Tsitsi, Presiding Elder of the Bethlehem District, in the Orangia Conference, Nineteenth Episcopal District |
The Reverend Charlin Lesch Legolie, age, 41 years, an Itinerant Elder in the Cape Annual Conference in the 15th Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, an active Itinerant Minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church for 12 years |
Mr. Walter Lee Howell, Sr, 92 years, family of Pittsburgh-West Virginia Conference members, Pamela H. Banks (Vice-President), Reverend Oliver Banks, and Jasmine Banks, Third Episcopal District |
Mrs. Deborah Annette Johnson Mitchell, the daughter of the late Reverend L.W. Johnson and Mrs. Lucile Johnson, and the sister of the Reverend Dr. Ralph E. Johnson and first Lady Pat Bender Johnson, pastor of St. Peter AME Church, Clarksville, TN, Thirteenth Episcopal District, who transitioned from Labor to reward on her 62nd birthday, January 20, 2021 |
The Rev. Cecil Maddox, Jr., a retired Itinerant Elder and long-serving Pastor in the West Tennessee Conference, Thirteenth Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church |
The Reverend Cecil Maddox, Jr. (6 March 1931 - 17 January 2021). Rev. Maddox, Jr. was a retired Itinerant Elder and a long-serving Pastor in the West Tennessee Conference, Thirteenth Episcopal District, of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. |
Mrs. Mary Ellen Booth Makell, the mother of Rev. Charles T. Sembly and First Lady Pamela J. Sembly, Pastor of Union Bethel AME Church, Randallstown, Maryland who transitioned on Monday, January 18, 2021, her 90th birthday. |
The Reverend Kathy Brown James, Itinerant Elder and Asst. Minister at Mt. Tabor African Methodist Episcopal Church in the North Orlando District of the Central Annual Conference of the Eleventh Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the mother of the Rev. Mikel James,Senior Pastor of St. Luke African Methodist Episcopal Church, Alachua, FL., Eleventh Episcopal District |
Deaconess Beatrice Samuels, the mother of Reverend Linda Ellerbe, pastor of Israel Memorial, Newark, New Jersey, New Jersey Annual Conference, Newark District, First Episcopal District |
Mr. Robert Lewis Seats, age 55, the brother of Connectional Officer Ora L. Seats-Easley, Brother-In-Law of Rev. Dr. William W. Easley, Jr., Presiding Elder, Retired, who succumbs to the complication of the Coronavirus COVID 19, a much sought-after vocalist, pianist, and organist with a wide repertoire for church and special occasion performances throughout several Tennessee counties |
Dr. Theressa Gregg James, Episcopal Supervisor Retired, wife of The Right Reverend Frederick Calhoun James, the Ninety-Third Elected and Consecrated Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church |
Mrs. Pansy Agatha Browne, age 74, due to the Coronavirus, COVID-19, the mother of Cheryl Browne-Peters (Lady Peters), mother-in- law of Rev. Vernon H. Peters, Pastor and First Lady of Allen Memorial, Brooklyn, NY, and grandmother of Brittni A. Peters, former Connectional YPD Assistant Recording Secretary, First Episcopal District |
Mrs. Sylvia Elaine Alleyne, age 96, mother of Jeanne Chavious, First Episcopal District Church School Superintendent, daughter of the late Rev. P C. Williams and Ruth Roseboro Williams and a faithful member of St. Matthew AME Church for over 30 years |
Rev. Mamie Cheatham Smith, a Local elder serving at Armstrong AME Church, Arlington TX, where Rev. Mary Quinn Miller is the pastor in the Northwest Texas Annual Conference of the Tenth Episcopal District |
Mrs. Mary L. McKinney, the wife of the Late Dr. Joseph C. McKinney, former Treasurer of the AME Church and aunt of Mrs. Bettye M. Sydnor, Comptroller of the African Methodist Episcopal Church |
For inquires concerning the Necrology Listing email: OEasleyL@amecfic.net.
On behalf of Social Action Commission Chair, Bishop Frank Madison Reid, III, Mrs. Jacquelyn DuPont-Walker, Director/Consultant-Social Action Commission, we extend profound sympathy to all bereaved families. "We wish you the peace that comes from knowing God Is There and pray that He will keep you in His Promised, Gentle Care."
In Sympathy and Prayer,
Ora L. Easley, International Administrator