"T" Cercie

My namesake Elizabeth "T" Seabrook Jenkins Love - better known among her beloved grandchildren as Mama "T" - passed away in January. She lived 91 years in South Carolina. I think she left an indelible mark on the state, and on many lives of those who knew and loved her. I think of her and miss her everyday.

It was easy to love Mama "T." She was vivacious and fun and full of generosity. One of the most touching things since her passing is how she is remembered by others, even people who are strangers to me, but whom she knew well.

Take South Carolina House member Lester P. Branham, Jr. of Lake City, for example.

I was making the rounds in conversation at a function after work one evening, and ran into a cohort who introduced me to Representative Branham. "Love," Branham stated as he read my nametag. "Yep," I answered. And so it went until he unraveled the story of how he'd met "T" years ago, pastored her church in Orangeburg, and then again when she moved to Greenwood. How he'd married her daughter Laurie, my Aunt, to George in Orangeburg, and knew my cousin and Uncle's brother very well. "Your grandmother was a sure thing. If there was anyone I knew I could count on to show up and do her part, it was 'T'," he said. I beamed, as if he'd just given me a personal compliment. And so I was fully satisfied, if not a little proud, that my grandmother had set such a reputation before her. And that someone I'd never met, who himself had encountered many faces and personalities in his long career, honored Mama "T" by remembering her so well to me.

It was a "T" Cercie.

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Elizabeth T J. Love -- Orangeburg
Friday, January 09, 2009

Elizabeth "T" Jenkins Love, 91, of Orangeburg, died Thursday morning, January 8, 2009, at National Health Care of Greenwood.

Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, January 10, in the Memorial Park Cemetery, with the Rev. Tony Hopkins officiating.

Mrs. Love was born in Charleston, a daughter of the late Charles Walter Jenkins and Laura Seabrook Jenkins. She was a graduate of Memminger High School, the College of Charleston and received her Masters degree from S.C. State University. Mrs. Love worked for 14 years in the North Charleston and Orangeburg Departments of Recreation. She taught in the public schools of Charleston County and retired from teaching in the Orangeburg City schools in 1979. She was a life member of Delta Kappa Gamma, professional education fraternity.

Mrs. Love resided in Orangeburg for 44 years before making her home in Greenwood to be near her daughter. She was a former deacon, Sunday School teacher and teacher of the International Ministry at First Baptist Church in Orangeburg. In Greenwood, she was a member of First Baptist Church and Benson Sunday School class and the Retired Teachers Organization. She was an avid golfer and tennis player.

Mrs. Love is survived by a son, Baylus Cade Love Jr. and wife, Sandie C. Love of Columbia; a daughter, Laurie Love Cone and husband, Dr. George P. Cone Jr., of Greenwood; four grandchildren, Robert W. Cone and wife, Emily, Charles P. Cone, Amy E. Love and William (Billy) C. Love; one great-grandchild, Preston T. Cone; a brother, Oliver H. Jenkins of Charleston.

The family will receive friends from 6 to 7 p.m. Friday evening in the Parlor of First Baptist Church, Greenwood and following the graveside service in Orangeburg.

Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church, P.O. Box 637, Orangeburg, SC 29116, or First Baptist Church, 722 Grace Street, Greenwood, SC 29649.

Dukes-Harley Funeral Home of Orangeburg is in charge of arrangements.