Lorine Hargrave

Pastor, Mother Lorine Hargrave, was a resident of San Bernardino, California for over 68 years. She was born in Omaha, Texas, on April 1st, 1937, and was the fourth of eleven children born from the union of Ester and Aline Newton, who were sharecroppers.

Mother Lorine was very smart and loved going to school but could only attend three months out of a fiscal year, because her family were sharecroppers. Later, she went on to attend Booker T. Washington High School for a while. She and her family moved to Barstow, California. Not long after, she met the Late Superintendent, Pastor Douglas Ray Hargrave. They formed a beautiful relationship and married on May 8th, 1954. From this union five beautiful daughters were born.

In 1956, Mother Lorine Hargrave was saved at the youthful age of 18 and converted from Baptist to the Pentecostal Holiness Faith and joined the Church of God in Christ, Inc., under the Late Pastor Paige in Barstow, California. As a result of her receiving salvation, she is responsible for her husband and entire family, and many others receiving salvation, due to her effective witness through the work of the Holy Spirit. In 1957, the couple decided to move from Barstow to San Bernardino, because there were no hospital facilities or colleges established in Barstow.

Mother Lorine worked as a Nurse’s Aide at Community Hospital of San Bernardino, while continuing her education and was able to complete High School. In 1969, she continued her education at the United School of Nursing of the Inland Empire and became a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN), then began employment at the Loma Linda University Medical Center, and combined, she worked a total of 22 years in the clinical setting. She also worked as a nurse in her own Childcare Center, making herself available to the children and staff for over 30 years.

The Late Supt. Douglas R. Hargrave was called to the ministry in 1964, later ordained an Elder, and in 1971, he founded the Greater Cornerstone Church of God in Christ, where Mother Lorine became it’s First Lady. In 1972, she and her husband became foster parents, providing a haven for many foster children.

In 1975, Mother Lorine was license as an Evangelist Missionary, under the Late State Supervisor of Women, Mother Lillian A. Morris.

Mother Lorine became a Childcare Specialist, working for the State of CA, in 1976. She supervised and cared for six individuals with intellectual disabilities in her home, open-endedly, for over 15 years.

In 1985, Mother Lorine founded the Cornerstone Christian Preschool because she wanted children to learn how to read. She also wanted to provide a facility where parents could feel secure, knowing their children (even her grandchildren) would receive a Christian Foundation. From 1991 – 2002, her preschool expanded to become a parochial-grade school facility, providing free education to children in grades K-6. In April of 2002, the Board of Directors awarded her a name change of her facility and renamed it Lorine’s Learning Academy Dba Cornerstone Christian Academy, Inc. Three years later, in 2005, the facility expanded again to include an Infant Care Center, caring for infants from 0-2 years of age. She has also provided employment to numerous individuals in various job classifications involving childcare. All her hard work at the facility for over 30 years was donated with no monetary compensation, but with 100% love. Mother Lorine provided children a head-start in life, something she herself never had as a child.

In 2012, she was awarded the Community Champion Award in “Faith-Based” for her outstanding public service in the City and County of San Bernardino, and the Inland Empire areas by Molina HealthCare Company of California. She has also received write-ups in the Precinct Reporter, and induction into the Heritage Who’s Who of Outstanding and Successful Business Owners in Education.

Mother Lorine is a self-taught “computer whiz,” and acquired many grants such as City Community Development Block Grants, First Five, TRW, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Feed America – feeding over two million meals to the hungry, and many others grants, to help her community thrive.

She is also an author! She has published three books, with a fourth book manuscript. Her first book is about her life entitled, I Give Honor First to God, subtitled: You Can’t Hurry God, secondly a religious self-help book about her marriage, entitled, The Young Bride And Groom: A Marriage Union of Sixty Years, thirdly, the biography of her dearly beloved husband, called The Life and Legacy of Pastor Superintendent Douglas R. Hargrave, and fourthly, a preschool manuscript, yet to be published. Mother Lorine did so much, this Obituary cannot hold the space. You will have to read her many books to probe deeper into her life and legacy.

On August 27th, 2021, Evangelist Missionary Mother Lorine was ordained as Pastor of the Greater Cornerstone COGIC, by Chief Apostle, Archbishop Roy E. Lee, Founder of the Deliverance Churches Fellowship, International, Inc., DCFII.ORG of the USA.

In September of 2019, Mother Lorine was awarded a plaque from Bishop Joe L. Ealy, Prelate of the Church of God in Christ, Inc., First Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of Southern California, honoring Senior Pastors in recognition for her many years of faithful, loyal, and leadership service to the Jurisdiction. Unfortunately, she didn’t receive the plague until June 6th, 2024, 5 ½ years later, not at the fault of Bishop Ealy.

Two of her most favorite Scriptures were:

Proverbs 3:5-6 - Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths, and

Proverbs 22:6 - Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Her most famous quote was: “A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste!”

Pastor, Mother Lorine Hargrave transitioned from earth to Glory to be present with her SAVIOR and LORD, JESUS CHRIST, on February 27th, 2025, surrounded by her loving daughters and family members.

She is preceded in death by her husband for 62 years, Supt., Pastor Douglas R. Hargrave, her parents, Ester P. Newton, and Mo. Eather Aline Fridia, her siblings, Roy Lee Newton, Hattie Mae Turner, Troy Lee Newton, Willie Lee Newton, Melvin Herman Newton, Velma Ree Miller, and Fannie Mack George.

She leaves to cherish her memories, her siblings, Min. Jimmy Ray Newton, Bro. Mack Arthur Newton, and Sis. Rosetta Earls, all of Mount Pleasant, TX, her daughters; Sis. Lola Faye Hargrave-Fuller, of Fairbanks, AK, Evang. Mo. Mary Ann Hargrave-Alomaja, of San Bernardino, CA, Evang. Mo. Martha Ann Hargrave-Anderson, of Capitol Heights, MD, Dorcas Nell Bufkin aka: Asha A. Mwamba (Husband, Edward Bufkin aka: Jahi Mwamba) of Fayetteville, NC, Evang. Elizabeth Carol Jacson (Husband, Steven Lee Jacson) of Magnolia, TX, her Step-Daughter, Evang. Patricia Ann Robinson, of Daingerfield, TX, and God-daughter, Sis. Linda Denett Reams, of Los Angeles, CA., her 13 grandchildren (Diamond, Latoya, Tiffani, Justin, Dionne, Antonio, Immanuel, Courtney, Nailah, Bomani, Mizan, Steven, and Liquori), her 26 great grandchildren, and one great, great grandson, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, Saints, family and friends.