Lillie Bell George's Obituary
In loving memory of Mrs. Lillie Bell George who passed away on 04/23/24. Family and friends are respectfully invited to attend the funeral services.
In lieu of flowers family is requesting potted plants be sent to Westbury Nursing and healing facility in Conyers Ga. 1420 Milstead Ave. to the Atten: of Cathy Nichols.
It must've been unseasonably warm with some of the fiercest winds Darlington County had ever seen on October 14, 1936, the day Lillie Bell Campbell blew into the town of Hartsville, amazing her parents Heyward and Lucille Campbell. She was a strikingly beautiful child, full of excitement and a heart of gold. Her parents were very smart to bring home five more children to help with her. Lillie was affectionately called by her middle name Bell, likely because she set the tone for order! But one day she met a boy, and her name never rang sweeter than the day he heard it for the first time. His name is Freddie Lee George. She was in high school at Butler and he was at Wilson High in Florence, South Carolina. The fireworks had never burst so bright as they had on the night of the Fourth of July,1954. That day, Freddie came to her house with a friend that wanted to court her sister Hazel or her cousin Carolyn; whoever would like him the most. But Freddie knew immediately who his Bell rang for. In no time, they were penning love letters to one another. But when she graduated from high school, June 3, 1955, she moved to New York to become a lab technician. During the Christmas of 1956, Bell came back to celebrate with family in Hartsville, and Freddie took a chance and proposed. Without hesitation, she said, "Yes!" And they were married on September 20, 1958. Since that day, they have spent the last seven decades stoking a mighty flame that is eternal. But Lillie George did not sit down for the house-making, she built the house and enforced her laws with kindness and seafood dip. She came from a family that had God at the center. Before she left Hartsville, she and her family were members of the Liberty Hill Holiness Church. But once she arrived in New York, she stayed busy working with and for God as a member of Saint Albans Congregational Church in the Agape ministry until she relocated to Georgia in 2021.
Becoming an Eastern Star in the order of the freemasonry on September 5,1964, once again exhibited her dedication to people through their core mission: "Charity, Truth and Loving Kindness by uplifting each other through service in our communities." Freddie and Bell welcomed their first child, Derek George, into the world, March 26th, 1965, at Kew Gardens Hospital, Queens, NY. But she didn't sit down for long as she worked from 1963 to 1970 at the St Albans VA, in the Biological Laboratory. This is when Freddie gave her the nickname SAM aka Samson. She also worked at the Naval Hospital and Queens General Hospital as a Certified Clinical Lab Technician.
She was an energetic, powerhouse that ran a tight ship, which resulted in her nickname, "Sarge". Even when she had her first visit in the nursing home in New York, she was telling them how to clean the rooms, make the beds etc. Needless to say, the staff looked forward to giving the family her discharge date. But the Sarge also knew how to have fun. Her most prized possession was her family and traveling with her crew: Freddie, Beatrice, Earl, Hugh Vance and Nita. They would share in doing her favorite things: shopping, cooking, word search, spades with Aunt Rose, and watching television.
Freddie and Lillie welcomed another child, Nicole Latrice George, into the world February 9, 1969. They knew she was going to rival her mother's unstoppable energy when she brought with her one of the most powerful snow-storms New York had ever seen and almost demanded to be born in a snowbank! But again, she persevered and graduated from York College while working full time and caring for two small children.
Bell's wonder twin affectionately called "Nicky" would show her mother that she had been watching her closely as she effortlessly went into soldier mode in 2013, giving her mom relief as she received her Alzheimer's diagnosis. Nicky's one and only daughter, Graice, third in command behind Freddie, was immediately enlisted in the care of her grandmother as the First Officer of Jokes, Care and Secret Service, which she took supreme pride and honor in carrying out her duties.
Bell's gift was in caring for others everywhere. Even at times, when she wasn't feeling her best, she would get up and get to it and enlist her family for support.
"Nicky come in here and help me! Derek! Freddie! Bring me some Excedrin." There was no stopping her. They would try to convince her to slow down. "Say 'no', Mom, you're tired." But to no avail, she would not stand down. It was true that If you wanted something done and done right, you wanted The Sarge in charge.
Lillie's parents and siblings Charles, Cora, Jackie and Jimmy are all welcoming her home, and have entrusted their sisters Hazel Hartzos (Roosevelt), Ruth and Pearl to keep their memories alive in their hearts and those of their families until they see them again.
Those who stand in salute and dedication to the formidable "job well done" of this remarkable soul, The Sarge, Sampson, Lillie Bell George, who have shared the sorrows and joys of life with her and live on to tell her story are: Her husband and eternal flame, Freddie George; one son Derek B. George (Crystal) of Manning, SC.; one daughter Nicole L. Hartgrove (Sean) of Conyers, GA; Four grandchildren, Jon-Monique George, Mar-Keith George (Camille), Sha'Rya George and Graice Whiting; her sister from another mother, Betty Burgess and two godsons Micheal Toney and Howard Mills. She also extends her everlasting embrace with an overwhelming number of extended family, family friends and friends of her children.
https://vimeo.com/event/4276155
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