COLUMBIA - A funeral service for Alexzenia DeLoney Hébert, 93, will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, January 6, 2020 at Adams Northeast AME Church, with burial following in Fort Jackson National Cemetery at 1:00 p.m. The family will receive friends from 4:00 until 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 5, 2020, at Dunbar Funeral Home, Northeast Chapel, 4219 Hard Scrabble Road Columbia, SC 29223.
Alexzenia was born in Hope, Arkansas on July 3, 1926 to the late William Henry DeLoney, Sr. and Irene Coley. Although she came from humble beginnings, there ·was a drive that was instilled in her that could not be denied. Some may have viewed it as being stern and mean, but in retrospect, it was pure determination to be the best person that she could be.
She went to school in Little Rock, Arkansas, graduating from Dunbar High School. After a year of college, she went to New York and fell in love with Leonard Joseph Hébert. They married and had four children.
Alexzenia’s courageous spirit and social consciousness was evidenced by her many community activities for human justice. An example of this was her response to racial strife in NYC high schools during the civil rights movement in 1964. Without regard for her own safety, she rescued Black, terrorized teenagers fleeing the pursuit of white mobs by driving her vehicle several times to pick up black students trying to escape violent attacks. Her nurturing spirit was demonstrated by several years of commitment as a den mother for the Cub Scouts of America.
She had many jobs, starting as a park attendant and eventually ending as a Senior Recreation Therapist for Brooklyn Development Center. She attended Lehman College, earning a Master of Science in Recreation Education. She also was an entrepreneur: an Avon-distributer, a Sinclair gas station owner and Hébert's Tax Service.
When Alexzenia had a day off for Election Day, she was always working "The Polls" with her friends, Lee Pannell and Delia Lewis. She was involved in the Order of the Eastern Star in Arkansas and New York. She was an avid Christian, beginning in the Church of God in Christ, where she learned The Bible, and continuing into St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church.
She is survived by her younger sister, Betty Jean DeLoney Shead; her four children, Lenard Joseph Hébert II and his wife, Mary, Yvette Ronale Hébert McKenzie and her husband, Anthony, Jezell Angelene Hébert and her companion, Clayton, and Bolivar Châl Hébert; her grandchildren, Monique Alexzenia Hébert, Richard Elwood Hawley, Ronale Sonée McKenzie and Anton Anthony McKenzie and his wife, Nicole; her great-grandson, Anthony James McKenzie; and many cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends throughout the United States.
Memories may be shared at www.dunbarfunerals.com.
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