Clarnell (Raley) Henderson

MRS. CLARNELL RALEY HENDERSON, 82 of NIAGARA FALLS, NY formerly of Union County, NC passed away Tuesday, July 27, 2021 at the Bridgepoint Hospital (National Harbor) in  Washington, DC.

Mrs. Henderson was a daughter of the late Joe Bob and Mazie Lee Truesdale Raley.

Funeral services will be 12 Noon Saturday, August 7, 2021 at Mission Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, 3039 Amay James Avenue, Charlotte, NC, 28203.  Burial to follow at Tiny Grove Church Cemetery, Pageland, South Carolina.

Public viewing will be Friday August 6, 2021 from 2p.m. until 6 p.m. with a family visitation from 4p.m. until 6p.m. at Harris Funeral Home Chapel.

Due to Covid 19, it is asked that everyone entering the funeral home to have on a face mask or a facial covering for the safety of our families and the staff.  Please use Hand Sanitizer upon entering and exiting the funeral home.

Harris Funeral Home & Cremations of Monroe, NC. is serving the Henderson and Raley Families.

Clarnell Raley Henderson , left this this earthly realm on Tuesday, July 27, 2021.  She was born on May 22, 1939 to the late Mazie Lee Truesdale Raley and Joe Bob Raley..  She was born in Lancaster County, South Carolina and is the oldest of 8 siblings (7 girls and 1 boy).

She started playing the piano at a young age without any formal lessons, but played "by ear" after prophecy and "the laying of hands ( 1Timothy 4:14).  At about 12 years old, she started singing with and playing the piano for her sisters in a group known famously and the Raley Sisters. Clarnell simultaneously drove the school bus while attending East Union School in Marshville, North Carolina, where she graduated in 1959.

Clarnell married the late Dewitt Henderson soon after graduation and moved to Buffalo, NY.  Later, she moved to Niagra Falls, NY and attended Kelley Business Institute and Trott Vocational School for Nursing.

She worked for Southland Frozen Foods, the Niagra Community Action Program (Previously known as NiaCAP), Carborundum, Dupont and Niagra Falls Coach Lines.

She was a member of the LaSalle Social Club, the Willing Workers Club and a singing group called the Chapelettes, all under the direction of Lexie Sanders, Clarnell was a 4-H leader for a group of girls in whoch she named the group "Determination".

She was a pianist at the Mt. Sinai Baptist Church and the Harriet Tubman AME Zion  Church where she was member and also drove the church van.  She later bacame a memer of Word of Life Ministries in Niagara Falls, NY, under the leadership of Bishop Jesse J. Scott, Sr., where she redicedicated her life to the Lord and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  She then went on to serve as Church Mother, sing in the Women's Choir and drove the church bus and van.

Clarnell's favorite color was green and she liked to sing, sew, fish, take long country rides and spending time with  her family.  Clarnell was  the matriarch of the family and believed in raising her in the " nuture and admonition of the Lord" She used  the limited resources she had to be a blessing..

She was predeceased by her parents, Joe Bob and Mazie Lee Raleyl her husband, Dewitt Henderson and her siblings, Willie Bob Raley, Leola Black and Lucille Cutherbertson.

Clarnell leaves to cherish her memories ro her three children, Willie Samuel Henderson, Dorothy L, Davis (Chester Wayne-predeceased )Miles, Montrisa D. (Eddie D.,) Scott;  grandchildren,n Lamarto Samuel, Johnathan, Robert, Trumaine, Eddie and  Trinity; great-grandchildren, Lilliana, Sam, Sarai; siblings, Evelyn (Fletcher E.deceased) Starnes, Anita Hailey, Rachel (Valley) Blakeney, Mae Frances Blakney, Paul Truesdale; brother-in-law, Clifford Hailey, a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

Clarnell "fought a good fight, she  finished her course, she kept the faith and she tookk hold of eternal life!  (ll Timothy 4:7-8, 1 Timothy 6:12.