Service Details

A memorial will be held on Saturday, May 21, 2016 at 11am in the Truett Chapel at First Baptist Dallas, 1707 San Jacinto, Dallas, Texas, 75201. Her son David will welcome friends and family at a reception immediately following.

The Story

Mamie Matilda Raleigh was welcomed into her heavenly home on Tuesday morning, April 5th, 2016. She passed away in Dallas, Texas, her earthly home of 20 years. She was 85.

The middle of twelve children, Mamie was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania December 24th, 1930. She is preceded in death by her parents; Julius and Matilda Raleigh, her oldest brother,
JT and his wife Marybelle, her brothers, Zealous, Conley, Jessie, Nathaniel and his wife Christine and youngest brother, Furman, her sisters, Margie, Arnello and her husband Richard Thomas, Princess Lee and her husband John Scott, and sister in law, Renata, She is survived by two younger brothers, Glen, of Killeen, Texas, husband of Renata, Neal and his wife, Mary, of Albany, Georgia, her son David, of New York, New York, his partner Richard and a host of nieces, nephews, grand nieces and nephews and extended family members, all whom she loved dearly and prayed for daily.

Mamie lived a purpose filled and godly Christian life. She had a profound love for and was a devoted scholar of the Bible. She sought out every opportunity to study God’s word and was passionate about her devotional and prayer life. She attended Moody Bible Institute, Prarie Bible College and Dallas Theological Seminary and filled hundreds of notebooks and manuals with her personal notes from almost every sermon or Christian lecture she listened to or attended. An avid prayer warrior, Bible study leader and choir member, Mamie, was an active and faithful member of First Baptist Dallas, and each church she attended during the course of her life.

A licensed practical nurse by profession, Mamie began her 25 year career as a private nurse and then, in 1958, joined the staff at a hospital in Rochester, New York. In 1964 she moved across the country to Seattle, Washington where, with the exclusion of a two year sabbatical to attend Bible College in Canada, she held a position as head nurse in the Skilled and Ambulatory Care nursing facilities at Crista Ministries (formerly King’s Garden) until her retirement in 1981.

She loved to learn. She advanced her nursing education, and also completed courses to further her love of writing and composition at Shoreline Community College, Richland College, and through various online courses.

Mamie was a prolific writer. She took pride compiling her yearly Christmas letter, enjoyed writing personal poems for any and every occasion, and reveled in her self - appointed post as family historian. For years her monthly “Focus On The Family” newsletter brought and kept together her large extended family of which she was very proud.

An outstanding hostess, Mamie loved entertaining. Her dinner parties and ladies luncheons were legendary, and having 25-30 guests over for a meal with long tables set up throughout every inch of her entire apartment was not uncommon. Baking was her hobby and almost everyone who knew her received a loaf of one of her famous breads during the holidays.

She will be remembered as devoted friend, colleague, sister, sister – in – law, aunt, cousin, and loving mother, who sacrificed and selflessly gave of herself completely to create a better life for her son and only child, David.

A memorial will be held on Saturday, May 21, 2016 at 11am in the Truett Chapel at First Baptist Dallas, 1707 San Jacinto, Dallas, Texas. Her son will welcome friends and family at a reception immediately following.

In life, Mamie was a generous giver of gifts to her church, countless charities and Christian foundations, and to the people she loved. It is no surprise then that one of her final wishes was that her body be used to aid in research and help others. She bequeathed her remains to the Willing Body Program at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas. Summarily, she will be interred in the columbarium at Evergreen - Washelli Cemetery in Seattle, Washington.

Please consider a memorial contribution in her memory to Back to The Bible, PO Box 83808, Lincoln, NE 68501, online at www.BacktotheBible.org, Mission 1:18, First Baptist Dallas, 1707 San Jacinto, Dallas, TX 75201, online at www. firstbaptist.org/mission1-8, or the UT Southwestern Medical Center, P.O. Box 910888, Dallas, Texas 75391, online at www. utsouthwestern.edu/donatenow to support research and a cure for breast cancer, of which she was a survivor.