LOVELLE FOUSE JENKINS
was born in Haywood County, TN, July 24, 1923. She was the oldest of
nine siblings; daughter of Garvin Fouse, Sr. and the former Willie
Mae Douglas. The family migrated to Memphis in 1924, riding the L&N
train. The settled on James Street near South Parkway and Bellevue.
Lovelle remembered many enjoyable summer train trips back to
Brownsville with her siblings. The visited with granddaddy, George
Douglas, and their aunt, Viola Fouse Lee, uncles, Walter, Dave, Otto
and George Fouse, and numerous first cousins. As a young student,
she attended Old Greenwood School up to the 8th grade. Lovelle
graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 1941. She
graduated in 1945 from the city's only historically black college,
LeMoyne Owen, one of the few of her generation majoring in education
to choose Library Science as her focus. Her thesis project was
organization of a reading mobile (the first of its kind), for
children who lived in LeMoyne Owen Gardens public housing across the
street. Lovelle Fouse was united in marriage for 31 years with
Earnest Jenkins. Earnest (1916-1986), born in Hernando, MS, was a
veteran of World War II, having served his country as a paratrooper
with the 101st Airborne Division. Lovelle Jenkins served the Shelby
County school system for nearly forty years. Her first teaching
positions were at Capleville and E. A. Harrold in Millington. In
1961, Lovelle was hired as a 5th grade elementary teacher at Ford
Road School, remaining there until she retired in 1988. Because of
her qualifications, she was selected to establish the school's first
library. Lovelle also participated in an important study on the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its impact on the de-segregation of
Tennessee schools, sponsored by the U.S. Office of Education. The
Six Weeks Institute Study was conducted at George Peabody College
for Teachers in Nashville, TN, 1965. She was awarded a Certificate
of Recognition for Outstanding Accomplishment by the University of
Tennessee for participation in Motivation to Read: An Application
for Schools Without Failure, 1979. Other honors and awards include,
the Certificate of Recognition for Meritorious Work for completion
of the Newspaper in the Classroom Seminar, and recognition as a
Trailblazer for the Class of 1954 at E. A. Harrold High School,
1998. Lovelle was a devoted member of Greenwood C.M.E. Church for
over eighty years. She served as a member of the Stewardess Board
#1, the Missionary Society, and the Lefidelis Auxiliary. She
organized the library with her close friend, the late Mrs. Hazel W.
Maclin, and taught the Missionary Society's Bible Study classes for
many years. Greenwood C.M.E. Church recognized her as a "Pillar"
member in 1992. The Status of Women's Department, Greenwood C.M.E.
Church honored her work with an award of merit, "Mother of the
Year", in 1995. The Missionary Society recognized her "loyalty and
dedicated service" in 1999, and on the 130th anniversary in 2002,
she was "commemorated for 65 years of service". Her favorite
pastimes were reading, collecting books, travel, writing, working
crossword puzzles, and attending family reunions. As one of the
elders of the Fouse family, she knew everyone and how we are all
related. Some of her favorite authors were Toni Morrison, William
Faulkner, and Ernest Hemingway. She traveled the U.S., Canada,
Alaska, Hawaii, the Caribbean, Bermuda, and South America. Mrs.
Lovelle Fouse Jenkins made a peaceful transition into the hands of
God and a welcoming heavenly family on January 19, 2007 at 12:10
a.m. She leaves to cherish her memory and pass on a great legacy,
two loving and devoted daughters, Earnestine Jenkins and Sandra
Jenkins, both of Memphis; two sisters, Edna Catherine Simpkins of
Memphis and Wanda Mosby of Michigan; three brothers, George Fouse of
Memphis, Johnny Langston Fouse and Willie Eugene Fouse, both of
Michigan; one stepson, Earnest Jenkins, Jr. of Memphis; a host of
nieces, nephews, cousins and friends, as well as professional and
church family. M. J. Edwards Funeral Home 901-332-3164
Published in The Commercial Appeal on 1/23/2007.
Published in The Commercial Appeal on 1/23/2007.
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