Ms. Clare McGill

It is with sorrow that the management and staff of Mitchell-Josey Funeral Home, Inc. announces the passing of Ms. Clare McGill. Ms. McGill passed on Monday, May 30, 2022 in a Darlington nursing facility following and illness. 

Funeral service is Monday, June 6, 2022 in the Chapel of Mitchell-Josey Funeral Home, Inc. Interment will follow in Salvation Temple Church Cemetery, Hartsville, SC. 

Life’s Reflections

    She was christened Clara Edna McGill and spent her childhood in a loving and secure home at 1053 East Evans Streetin Florence, SC playing with the children of the neighborhood - Bessie May, Kate, Bootsie, - and with her younger brothers, George Felix and Roscoe, who were called Brother and Junior.

   As the firstborn to Mary Aleatha Lesense McGill and Wade Roscoe McGill in Florence, SC. Clare was the one to assign names to others. So that when her attempt to say “Mother” came out  as “Mudgie” Miss Mary Aletha became Mudgie to one and all. Clare also decided that her little baby brother would be known as “Brother” within the family.

    She was both gentle and rambunctious as a child. Summers spent on her grandmother’s farm in Lynchburg were idyllic, wild blackberries so sweet and plentiful. As the eldest and the “Queen”, she would lord over her little country cousins who lived on the farm - Weedie, Shirt, Judy Boy and Boot Jack, - bossing them around and not giving them a bite of her peanut butter sandwich.

    Clare was May Queen at Holmes Elementary school and had a crush on a boy named Evans Herbert, called Pedro. She and her family were faithful members of Mt Zion AME Church going back to the time of Reverend J C Quarrels

    Clare was a 1955 graduate of Wilson High School in Florence. She attended Virginia State College briefly. She settled in Philadelphia, became an officer of the PPD and joined the congregation of Berean Presbyterian Church on Broad Street. Her circle in Philadelphia included Murray, Hortense, Delores and especially Claudia.

    When MS began to ravage her body, Clare moved into the Oakhaven Care Facility in Darlington, S.C. where she would spend twenty-two years under the most caring hands to be found any place on the earth. Clare’s family expresses its deep gratitude to the professionals at Oakhaven, with especial indebtedness to Cynthia Jones, an Angel who has earned her wings. 

   Clare’s brothers: Brother and Junior, survive her. Others are:her four first cousins from Lynchburg: Emma Louise, Shirley, Henry Armstrong, Jr. and Mary Trellis. Other cousins are:Cheryl Swinton, Herman Felix, Jr. and Fredericka. Her nieces:Khaia and Lynn, Celine and Terry, miss her terribly, as do her nephews: Jason Todd and Bertram, Preston and Catalina.Throughout her illness, Clare has benefited from the love and kindness and consistent attention of her cousins: Baby Ray and Wilhelmina Felix and of her cousins Richard and Mary Pearson. Clare had a most tender heart for her great nieces: Lua and Soleil Garthe. And, of course, there’s always Claudia, and the pancake Sundays.

Please keep the relatives and friends of Ms. Clare McGill in your thoughts and prayers. 

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