While at home in Bartlett, Tennessee, in the waning sunny afternoon hours of Friday June 18, 2021, Jean Evelyn Carlisle Fitts, 93, quietly and peacefully passed into her new heavenly home. Jean was born on August 14, 1927 in Lucy, Tennessee in a simple white frame house across from Lucy Elementary School. She was preceded in death by her parents, John V. and Pauline Goldsby Carlisle; husband Marvin E. Fitts; brothers John L. Carlisle and James E. Carlisle; sisters Frances C. Ferguson, Sue C. Phillips and Dorothy C. Vincent.
She graduated from Millington High School and continued her education at Union University (Jackson, TN) and then a Doctorate degree in Education (EdD) at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Fort Worth, TX). She used those tools to “love people for Christ” as a counselor for young unwed mothers in San Antonio, TX and then as a single missionary with the Southern Baptist (FMB/IMB) in Guadalajara, Mexico.
In 1959, she married the love of her life, Marvin. Together they went on to serve as missionaries in Costa Rica, Peru, and Mexico. She also joined the faculty of Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis for several years.
After retirement to Bartlett, TN in 1990, Jean continued to serve the Lord at both Ellendale Baptist Church and La Buena Esperanza (The Good Hope) Hispanic Baptist Church. During those years in Bartlett, countless hours were spent having wonderful times with family, friends, cooking, fishing, and always “loving people for Christ”.
Jean is survived by her son Andrew (Seattle, WA), her son Philip and wife Lisa (Chattanooga, TN), her daughter Janean and husband Edgar Cardenas (Xenia, OH), and her five precious grandchildren, Jenny (husband Jon Folsom), Drew, Christy, Jessica and Teresa. In addition, she is survived by two very special sisters-in-law; Joeann Carlisle and Peggy Wilson and numerous cousins.
The family will receive friends beginning at 2pm with the funeral service to follow at 3pm, on Tuesday, June 22, 2021, at Ellendale Baptist Church, 3861 Broadway Rd, Bartlett, TN 38135. Burial will follow at the Big Creek Cemetery, 6797 Big Creek Church Rd, Millington, TN 38053.
Funeral arrangements are being made by the Memphis Funeral Home, 3700 North Germantown Pkwy, Bartlett, TN 38133.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Ellendale Baptist Church, 3861 Broadway Road, Bartlett, TN 38135 ( EbcBartlett.org -- designated for Missions).
