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IN LOVING MEMORY OF
Nannie Mae
Phipps-Kitchens
January 16, 1922 – June 11, 2015
Obituary
At the age of 18, Nannie Mae traveled North to East Orange, New Jersey. She tried her hand at sewing and made a living as a seamstress. She was the first African-American manager at Fitwell Dress Factory in Reading, Pennsylvania. She shared many stories of gathering loose material from work and making clothing at home. Through the years, she made living room upholstery, leather jackets, blankets, prom dresses and outfits for her daughter, grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
Nannie Mae - affectionately known as Miss Nan, Aunt Nan, Mother Nan, Ma Nan, and Mom - loved children, music, gardening, playing cards, fishing with her nephews, and serving up love through her cooking. The party was always at her house and she thrived in the presence of family. Nan moved back to Newton, Georgia in 1981 to help her oldest sister Odessa take care of their mother in her final years. Nan kept her great-granddaughter every summer and shared her love for James Brown, B. B. King, Louis Jordan, and other soul music greats. No matter the circumstance or distance, she attended all of her children's graduations and most of her family's birthday parties and special events through 2014.
She was a member of the Baker/Dougherty County Willing Workers Club, Southern Journey (SRBW), and was the mother of New Salem C.M.E. Church.
Nan made her transition on June 11, 2015 at Willson's Hospice House in Albany, Georgia.
Nan is preceded in death by three brothers: J. W., John, and James and three sisters: Odessa, Lillian, and Mabel.
She is survived by her daughter E. Maxine Chavis; grandson, Jon S. Harden; granddaughter, Jacquelin V. Harden-Chavis; great-granddaughter, Kristen V. Carter; grandson-in-law, Joel A. Harden; several cousins, nieces, nephews, and loving friends.
I am home in Heaven, dear ones:
Oh, so happy and so bright!
There is perfect joy and beauty
In this Everlasting Light.
All the pain and grief are over!
Every restless yearning past;
I am now at peace forever,
Safely Home in Heaven at last.
Dear one, do not grieve so sorely,
For I love you dearly still;
Try to look beyond earth's shadows,
Pray to trust Our Father's Will.
When your work is completed,
He will gently call you Home;
Oh! the rapture of that meeting!
Oh, the joy to see you come.
Services
Funeral Service
New Salem C.M.E. Church
Starts at 11:00 am
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