Elijah Harris Blackshear Sr.

O Lord, You who are the Alpha and Omega, You who are Amen, we your fragile and humble subjects beseech you in bereavement on the passing of Elijah Harris Blackshear at the age of 95, under Your loving guidance on December 9, 2013.

Through our loving memory of Elijah, he was born on September 10, 1918 in Hawkinsville, GA, to Lemon and Henrietta Blackshear. He was the oldest of three boys; his siblings were Eugene and Richard. His mother died during childbirth with Richard, and his father became estranged from the family shortly thereafter. The children were taken under the guardianship of their grandmother, Carrie Harris, and her five children.

O Lord God of creation, Elijah Harris Blackshear has passed from this world into Your light where he shall rejoin his eldest daughter, Doris Marie Blake. He is survived by his wife, Tecora Marie Blackshear; his children, Elijah Harris Blackshear, Jr, Jerolyn Ester Washington, Jan Ricky Blackshear; his sons-in-law, William Washington, Allen Blake; his grandchildren: Tecoa Washington, William Washington Jr, Ja Ja Blake, Seneca Washington, DaFina Blake; and two great-grandchildren.

Subservient to the will of creation, we beseech you to allow us to mourn one moment more and to shed one more tear for the loss of a good and caring husband, a good and caring father, a good and caring provider, a good and caring teacher, and a good and caring friend.

All praise be to He who is AMEN.