Mrs. Charity Anderson was born in Benton, Bossier Parish, Louisiana to Sam (Nick) and Pearley Davis Williams on July 4, 1932. She was the seventh of eight children: Jeannette, Geneva, Lula Mae, J.T., Theodis, Joseph, Charity, and Sam. Dad and all the children were members of Longview Baptist Church.
Aunt Charity is the way she was known with affection, and she was one who loved family and remembered all family with a card for birthdays and gifts for holidays.
Even though times were hard for her as a child, she longed for an education. She succeeded. She graduated from Bossier Parish Training School in Benton where the current Benton Elementary School is located.
She attended and graduated from Southern University in Baton Rouge, thanks almost entirely to the financial assistance of her older brother, Joseph, who was a laborer at the time. God later blessed him to become extremely financially stable. She did not forget his generosity because she became a blessing to others. After graduating from Southern she taught elementary school at the then C.H. Irion School in Benton. During the summers, she would go to California and continued teaching. After retiring, she moved back to Louisiana and resumed teaching.
It was in California where Aunt Charity met and married Reverend Doctor J. P. Anderson in 1974. She was first lady at Solid Rock Baptist Church in Los Angeles, California, Mt. Nebo Baptist Church in Dubberly, Louisiana and Hopewell Baptist Church in Cotton Valley, Louisiana.
Aunt Charity was the author of two books entitled REMINISCENCE, WHAT I SAW IN ATLANTA and AN OUNCE OF CURE FOR OUR CHILDREN, PARENTS, AND COMMUNITY THROUGH THE EYES OF AN EDUCATOR.
She put on well-planned programs at school and at Longview Baptist Church. The most recent and memorable was a Women’s Day Program surpassed by none.
Aunt Charity miraculously survived a vehicle accident in February 1997. After months of therapy and rehabilitation, she recovered. She diagnosed with Alzheimer/ dementia in September of 2016 and given a prediction of 6 to 12 months to live.
Aunt Charity is survived by her husband Reverend J.P. Anderson, a sister, Geneva Smith who is 100 years old, and five generations of nieces and nephews, and many other relatives, friends, acquaintances, and co-workers. The Lord called her home on October 3, 2019.
