Ozelle Fisher

Published 12:00 am Sunday, January 24, 2010

But they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint … Isaiah 40: 30-31

NATCHEZ — Services for Ozelle Velma Fisher, 77, of Natchez, who died Monday, Jan. 18, 2010, at Natchez Community Hospital, will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Rose Hill Missionary Baptist Church with the Rev. Kenneth Stanton officiating.

Burial will follow at the Natchez City Cemetery under the direction of Bateaste Memorial Funeral Home.

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. today at the funeral home.

Mother Fisher was born Oct. 24, 1932, in Natchez, the daughter Garfield Fisher and Cynthia Walker. At an early age, Mother Fisher accepted Christ and joined Beulah Baptist Church. Upon her return to Natchez in 1990, she moved her membership to Rose Hill Baptist Church where she took pride in various roles in the church. In 1954, she married Dempsey L. White in New York City and to this union one son was born, Darrell Spencer White.

She was a 1950 graduate of Brumfield High School. She continued her education in New York City where she attended and graduated from several institutions to pursue a career in nursing. (1954, Harlem Hospital School of Nursing; 1970, Harlem Hospital School of Anesthesia; 1980, George Washington University and Mercy College.) While attending school, she was employed full time by New York Health and Hospitals Corporation from 1954 to 1990. While working at the hospital, Mother Fisher wore many titles: staff nurse, unit head nurse, nurse anesthetist and was a clinical instructor in the School of Anesthesia.

Mother Fisher was affiliated with a number of local organizations in the Miss-Lou. She was a collector of African-American art, an African-American history tour guide and she loved making arts and crafts for her loved ones.

She was preceded in death by her husband; her parents; grandparents, Julius Walker and Lucy Barnes, Van Hart Fisher and Annie Neru; and one brother, Garfield “Bubba” Fisher Jr.

Survivors include her loving and devoted son and his wife, Annie Bell Varner-White; three grandchildren, Darah and deVon White and Daniel Varner Jr.; one godson, Daryl Keith Hurtz; a number of cousins; and her special extended family, Gloria Bruce, Helen Winder, Efetoya, Torian, Tamara and Tomara Johnson.

Pallbearers will be brothers of the Rho Epsilon Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Honorary pallbearers will be Daryl Keith Hurtz, Dorrell Robinson, Davis Robinson Jr., and Daniel Varner Jr.

The family wishes to express their sincere, heartfelt appreciation for the love, prayers and support shown during the illness and passing of their loved one. Special thanks to Dr. Borum and staff, Southern Care and staff, Efetoya Johnson and her three beautiful daughters, Torian, Tamara and Tomara, Mr. Kendrick Shelby, the Rho Epsilon Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., Rose Hill Baptist Church and the NAPAC Museum.