Official Obituary of
Amanda Nell Ezell
October 25, 1924 ~ October 1, 2016 (age 91) 91 Years Old
Amanda Ezell Obituary
Amanda Nell Ezell, age 91, of Lawrenceville, Illinois, passed away Saturday, October 01, 2016 at the United Methodist Village. She was born October 25, 1924 in Alabama. She was a domestic worker for many years.
Graveside services will be Monday, October 03, 2016, 2:30 p.m. at the Portee Cemetery east of Pinkstaff, Illinois. There is no visitation.
Although born near Mobile, Alabama, most of Ms. Ezell's adult life was spent in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she worked in the home of William Henderson with his wife Jane and their four children: Mary Jane, Margaret Ann, Barbara and Bill, Jr. The Henderson family, which is no blood relation to Ms. Ezell, became her family. Ms. Ezell grew up in a difficult time for Southern Blacks. There were no seats for her in the front of the buses, nor could she walk into any restaurant she pleased. There were restrictions as to the sanitary facilities she could use and the fountains she could drink from, but Ms. Ezell was an overcomer. Though limited by society and poor education, she was an avid reader and took an interest in the people around her. She came to know the Lord Jesus as her personal Savior on a Henderson family trip to Asheville, North Carolina, where the Henderson children spent summer vacations with their grandmother. Ms. Ezell was incorporated into the fabric of the Henderson family, where she witnessed and partook of each family event. In her retirement she came under the care of Margaret Ann after the death of both William and Jane. She remained under Margaret Ann's care until hurricane Katrina when Margaret Ann evacuated her before the storm. Since the 2005 storm she has lived in Lawrenceville, Illinois, under the care of Barbara Henderson Buchanan.
Graveside services will be Monday, October 03, 2016, 2:30 p.m. at the Portee Cemetery east of Pinkstaff, Illinois. There is no visitation.
Although born near Mobile, Alabama, most of Ms. Ezell's adult life was spent in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she worked in the home of William Henderson with his wife Jane and their four children: Mary Jane, Margaret Ann, Barbara and Bill, Jr. The Henderson family, which is no blood relation to Ms. Ezell, became her family. Ms. Ezell grew up in a difficult time for Southern Blacks. There were no seats for her in the front of the buses, nor could she walk into any restaurant she pleased. There were restrictions as to the sanitary facilities she could use and the fountains she could drink from, but Ms. Ezell was an overcomer. Though limited by society and poor education, she was an avid reader and took an interest in the people around her. She came to know the Lord Jesus as her personal Savior on a Henderson family trip to Asheville, North Carolina, where the Henderson children spent summer vacations with their grandmother. Ms. Ezell was incorporated into the fabric of the Henderson family, where she witnessed and partook of each family event. In her retirement she came under the care of Margaret Ann after the death of both William and Jane. She remained under Margaret Ann's care until hurricane Katrina when Margaret Ann evacuated her before the storm. Since the 2005 storm she has lived in Lawrenceville, Illinois, under the care of Barbara Henderson Buchanan.
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