May Her Memory Never Die

I have dreaded this day all my life. Thankfully for me I was 53 when the day came and not 10 or 12 or 16 or 21 or 30 or even 52. I would have missed so much. And I would have much less to offer the world in which I live. Today I attended the funeral service of Jessie Mae King.

Charlie Hicks and Sons Funeral Home did a masterful job conducting the funeral service for one of the greatest people I have ever known in life. As a life-long funeral director and the son, grandson and great grandson of life-long funeral directors, I notice such things. And those things are very important to me. I heard a quote from Thomas Lynch earlier this week. He said, “A good funeral gets the dead to where they need to go and the living where they need to be.”

Thanks to the Hicks family, their staff and the eloquent words of several ministers who were on hand, that surely happened today.


Jessie Mae King’s human body was tenderly committed to the ground today and her spirit was commended to God. And all of us who were witnesses were forced to take a hard look at the things that are really important in life.(Charles & Jeanette King, son and daughter in law, pictured above).

I have no memories in life apart from this incredible lady. She has been a major part of my life all my life. And I was reminded again that greatness is not about how much money one has in the bank or how many diplomas one has on the wall or the social position one reaches in life. But greatness is measured by the degree in which we serve our fellow man. (Annie Ronie Flewellen, daughter, pictured above with my brother, sister and me).

Jessie Mae King was a humble servant who impacted far more people than she ever knew.

But none were impacted more than me and my family.

May she rest in peace. And may her memory never die.