NATCHEZ — Services for Lizzie Dorsey, 89, of Natchez, who died Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009, at Glenburney Nursing Home, will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Antioch Baptist Church with the Rev. Carl Smith officiating.
Burial will follow at Pine Hill Memorial Park Cemetery under the direction of George F. West Funeral Home.
Visitation will be from noon until service time Saturday at the church.
Mrs. Dorsey was born Dec. 17, 1919, in Waterproof, La., the daughter of Fred Skinner and Cindy Clark.
Mrs. Dorsey confessed belief and faith in Jesus Christ and was baptized at an early age in Waterproof. As a resident of Natchez, she became a member of Antioch Baptist Church where she faithfully attended for many decades until prohibited by diminished health a few years prior to her death. She displayed a profound reverence for God and greatly loved her pastor and church.
Mrs. Dorsey received primary education in Waterproof. She possessed a strong work ethic, maintaining employment from a young child and by profession was a restraint cook. She retired from long years of employment with the Rendezvous Restaurant of Natchez.
Mrs. Dorsey maintained a very active and family oriented life. She worked hard in her chosen profession, though battling painful juvenile arthritis throughout her years. She enjoyed cooking and was an avid reader. She loved fishing and was a devoted fan of television news, game shows and daytime drama programs. She embodied a prevailing sense of family and was a grounding resource of support and caregiving, through times of health or crisis, to her parents, siblings and neighbors. Though having no biological children, she raised a number of nieces and nephews, spanning decades, until her death. She offered herself and her home as a safe haven of structure and nurture to her family and raised as her own a number of relatives who were either orphaned, abandoned or neglected.
She was preceded in death by her parents; nine brothers; one sister; one care child; and one niece.
Survivors include her stepmother, Christine Skinner of St. Joseph, La.; five brothers, Fred Skinner Jr., George Skinner and Isaish Skinner, all of Texas, Leonard Skinner of Tallulah, La., and James Skinner of New Orleans; three sisters-in-law, Ethel Marie Williams and Lessena Campbell, both of Natchez, and Gladys England of Ferriday; her care children, six nieces, Doris Thomas-Campbell, Cynthia Thomas, Jakayla Thomas and Aailyah Blackwell, all of Gulfport, Joyce England and Brenda England-Reaves, all of McComb; three nephews, Archie Thomas and wife, Janice, both of Virginia, Joshua England of McComb and Glen Howard of Atlanta; a number of other nieces and nephews; a large number of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, as well as other relatives and friends throughout the nation and world.