Obituary of Hattie Ruth Stokes

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." Proverbs 3:5

Today we face one of life’s most difficult moments, the loss of someone so very special and precious to each one of us.

Peacefully Hattie Ruth Stokes went to be with the Lord on May 19, 2021 at her home in Amelia, Virginia.  She was born in Macon, Georgia on February 3, 1927 to the late Hartwell and Florence Frye Stokes.  She left Georgia with her two children, William and Gwendolyn to begin a new life in Bronx, New York.  She and her sister Thelma worked in a lingerie factory, Peter Pan in Pelham Manor, New York.  They were both members of International Ladies Garment Workers Union.  Hattie also worked as a receptionist for a Homeless Women’s Shelter in Bronx until 2005.  In 2006, she moved to Amelia, Virginia to live with her daughter Gwendolyn and son-in-law, Douglas.

Hattie was an excellent cook.  Every Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas you would find her in the kitchen cooking her specialty coconut and fruit cakes, cooking turkey, ham, potato salad, sweet potatoes, chitterlings, pig feet, and other delicious dishes, too many to mention.  All her family would gather around to laugh and talk while enjoying the delicious meals she had prepared.

While living in the Bronx, she attended Trinity Baptist Church where she was a faithful member, sung in the Gospel Chorus and a member of the Willing Workers.  She never missed attending church unless she was sick.  She really loved the Lord.  

Hattie was very quiet and humble, but she touched many lives near and far.  She would listen to what a person had to say but she would never judge or say anything to criticize. She was very easy to talk to.

“Aunt Judy” as she was affectionately called by her nieces and nephews was preceded in death also by her siblings, Carrie, Thelma, Felton, Chester, William Miller, Mary, Lewis, Robert, and Connie.

She leaves to cherish precious and fond memories to, her devoted children, son, William Stokes (Ella), daughter, Gwendolyn Jackson (Deacon Douglas); five grandchildren; ten great grandchildren; seven great-great grandchildren; host of nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, cousins, other relatives and many, many friends, among them, three special friends, Deacon Wendell Scott, Sister Jackie Brown Wilkinson, and Sister Eleanor West.

Click here to attend Funeral Virtually by Zoom on May 26th @ 12 pm