Mother Jessie Hardaway went home to be with the Lord on Saturday, July 15, 2017. She was born in Mount Pleasant, TX on June 11, 1918, to Lee & Cornelia (Scott) Wilkerson. In 1938 she graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in Mount Pleasant. She later attended General Hospital School of Nursing in Oakland, CA where she became a certified LVN. She worked for Agnews State Hospital in Santa Clara, CA for several years as a Clinical Psychiatric Technician until she retired. She was a long term resident of Oakland, CA for over 45 years until she moved back home to Mount Pleasant in 2005. 

Mother Jessie Hardaway married Vernon Henderson Sr., to this union two children were born, Vernon Henderson Jr. and Lee Horace Henderson. She later married Robert Hardaway in 1953, she was a loving and devoted wife until his death.

Mother Hardaway dedicated her life to Christ at an early age in Mount Pleasant, TX and was a faithful servant until her death. She was an active member of First Church of God in Christ, Mt. Pleasant, TX & Holy Temple Church of God in Christ while she resided in Oakland, California. As she walked through her spiritual life for Christ she remained holy and true to God as a Deaconess, a Home & Foreign Missionary while traveling to the holy land, she maintained her Evangelist License for serval decades, she was the Assistant District Missionary for the Pentecostal Fellowship District, she was the Good Samaritans State President for California Northwest Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction. She work tireless for years with the California Sheriff’s Department and the Holy Temple COGIC prison ministry and received the Alameda County Sheriff’s Dept. Chaplaincy award, she also received a Leadership Certificate from the Former President Bill Clinton for her work in support of the Bill Clinton Act Advance for Change.

Mother Jessie Hardaway, celebrated her 99 birthday just last month June 2017 in collaboration with the First Church of God in Christ 100 year Anniversary. The Spirit and Love for the Lord that Mother Hardaway shared will be truly missed but we rejoice in knowing the she is now with GOD!

She was preceded in death by her husband Robert Hardaway, parents Lee & Cornelia Wilkerson, four sisters Zelma Carter, Bobby Jo Asberry, Lucille Jenkins, & Lillian Rogers, & two brothers John L. Wilkerson & Jimmy Wilkerson.

She leaves to cherish her memory, her two sons Vernon Henderson Jr., & Lee Horace Henderson; two grandchildren Felicia Leggett & Vernon Henderson III; two great grandchildren Christopher Leggett of New Jersey & Robert Leggett of Delaware, two great-great grandchildren McKayla, Eliana, & Samuel Leggett all of Delaware. Four brothers Billy Wilkerson, Warner Wilkerson, Preston Wilkerson (Essie) of Dallas, TX & Willie Ray Wilkerson (Gerri) of Tracy, CA; one sister Mary Frances Williams of Mt. Pleasant, TX , her devoted caregiver La' Keshia Williams and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, church family and friends.

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