McLendon, Louvenia
Louvenia Garrett McLendon entered eternal rest on Friday, January 20, 2023, from Hartford Hospital. Louvenia was 97 and the second of nine children born to William Garrett and Evezine Calloway Garrett of Benevolence, Georgia, on February 27, 1925. The Lord satisfied Louvenia with long life. Had she lived another month, she would have celebrated her ninety-eighth birthday. She was a farmer's daughter who, as a small child, delighted in helping in the kitchen and extending good old southern hospitality. By the age of eleven, she could cook almost anything. Cooking and entertaining continued as one of Louvenia's life-long passions.
Louvenia, at the young age of 17, was a participant in the “Great Migration,” where six million African Americans left the rural south to relocate to the Northeast, the Midwest, and the West Coast in search of a better way of life. Aided by her two aunts, who had themselves migrated years earlier, her aunts sent for Louvenia and her four (4) sisters, one by one, until all the girls eventually took residence in Hartford. Louvenia was the first to arrive and immediately began to work and attend Hartford High School, from which she graduated.
Louvenia flourished in Hartford. She met a dashing divorcee named James Arthur McLendon. They married and built a wonderful blended family of seven. Three girls from Jimmy's first marriage; Margret Julia, Claudette, and Cora Mae, and the four boys she birthed; James Arthur Jr, Howard Arnold, Jerome, and Gregory. Unfortunately, Louvenia was predeceased by the majority of her family, with the exception of two of her sons, James Jr. and Howard Arnold, who remain to cherish her memory.
After working outside of the home most of her adult life, she felt the need to be at home with her husband after he suffered a severe bout of illness. After working 19 years with the State of Connecticut as a Laboratory Assistant, she took early retirement from the state at the age of 62 to care for him. After her husband passed, she, at the age of 69, took a job at the Seabury Active Life Plan Community, where she worked for the next 25 years retiring at the age of 94. While at Seabury, she held several positions and had the time of her life working with her fellow seniors in a caring and compassionate capacity. She loved Seabury, and Seabury loved her. In the 2016 Seabury Annual Report, an article entitled “Louvenia McLendon/A Life of faith and Service” saluted Louvenia for her then twentythree (23) years of compassionate service.
She lived and died for the church and the service of her Lord and Savior. Upon moving to Hartford, she united with the Hopewell Baptist Church. On Easter Sunday, April 11, 1957, she was baptized in Jesus' Name by the late Bishop Leroy Clifford of the Bible Way Church of our Lord Jesus Christ World Wide, Inc. She remained a faithful and active member of Bible Way until the death of Bishop Clifford when she joined Christ Church of Deliverance, where she remained an active member until her death. Her last chosen activity in this life and the last words she spoke in this life were at the Noon Prayer Service at the Christ Church on Wednesday, January 11, 2023. It was from Christ Church that she was rushed by ambulance to Hartford Hospital, and from the hospital, she departed this life to be with the Lord.
Louvenia leaves to cherish her memory two sons, James Jr. (Donna) and Howard, both of Bloomfield, along with one son-in-law, Herbert Wright, Simsbury, CT. Twelve grandchildren A host of great-grandchildren, Two sisters, Williette Barnes and Lillie Mae Prince, both of Hartford, CT, along with one brother-in-law, the Reverend Horace Mitchell of Abbeville, AL, along with a host of cousins, nieces, nephews, Godchildren, and friends. Services will be held on Wednesday, February 1, 2023, with visiting hours 9:45 A.M. - 10:45 A.M. and the Service of Triumph at 11:00 A.M. at the Christ Church of Deliverance, 159 Blue Hill Ave. Hartford, CT. Burial will follow at the Mt. St. Benedict Cemetery, 1 Cottage Grove Rd., Bloomfield, CT. For online condolences or to attend remotely, please visit, www. carmonfuneralhome.com