Magdalene Zanie Rollins

Reverend Magdalene Zanie Rollins, lived to be 96 years old. A born native of Chester, South Carolina, she entered into eternal rest at her home in Washington, DC, on May 18, 2021. She went by the name Zanie in her youth, and was called Maggie later on by family and friends. Her late husband Willie affectionately called her Short Cakes. Magdalene and her late brother Robert were born to the late Johnson and Elizabeth Small and raised by their dear grandparents the late Augustus "Gus" and Janie Sanders in Detroit,MI. She was the beloved and faithful wife of the late Reverend Willie L. Rollins also known as Lucky Bill. She was a devoted mother to Denise Green.

Magdalene and her brother were educated in the South Carolina Public School System. After high school, she and her brother moved to Detroit, MI. After her brother went into the Army, she moved to Washington DC. In April, 1942, she got married and then became a mother. Magdalene worked for DC Public Schools for 30 years until she retired in 1981.

Magdalene was baptized at a young age and became a shining example of a Christian. She really loved the Lord. In 1970, Magdalene and her husband were called to start a church, First Genesis Baptist, at their home on Randolph Pl N.W. Her husband was the Pastor, and she was the First Lady until his death in 1995. Following in her husband's footsteps and having the knowledge to carry the Church, she became a Reverend and Pastor of First Genesis Baptist Church in 1996. She carried the church on for twenty more years. She continued to believe where two or more are gathered, Jesus will be among them. The doors of the Church were open every Sunday.

Magdalene was an exemplary model of wife and mother demonstrating a virtuous woman (Proverbs 31) to her Church and family. She enjoyed reading God's word. Many days you would find her in her room studying the Bible. She was the backbone to the family, there to provide guidance and support to everyone at any time. She leaves a family who loved her and greatly misses her, a devoted daughter, Denise A. Green; a step son Leroy Rollins in Augusta, Georgia; two grandsons, Dominique A. Jones, Sr and wife Shalette, and Kevin P. Green, Sr; three great- grandchildren, Aundrea’ Pulliam, Dominique Jones, Jr, and Kevin Green, Jr.; Special Friends, Shantana Ingrahm, mother of Kevin Jr, Brenda Presbury, and Michael Dickerson, better known as Tony; godchildren, Jackie Lewis, Bruce Banks and Maria White; nephew, Briscoe Dickens, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.