Cecelia Veronica Fairclough

Funeral services will be 11:00 am Monday, August 7, 2023 at Greensboro Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 1320 Fleming Road, Greensboro, NC 27410. She will be laid to rest in Guilford Memorial Park Cemetery, immediately following the funeral services. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the funeral services, from 10:00 until 11:00 am, at the church.

She was affectionately known as Sissy and Aunt Sissy to her family, Sis. Fairclough at church, but her treasured title was Grandma. Her grandchildren soon had to share that name with others who came to love her, and adopted her as their grandma.

Born on March 24, 1928 on the beautiful island of Jamaica, she grew up in Kingston with her parents and siblings. Family was important to her. Her love for them was deep. From childhood to adulthood, the bond with her siblings remained strong. It didn’t matter where they migrated (United States, England, and Canada), they always stayed in contact, and would always find a way to make it back home. They were her love and her support.

She received a scholarship to study nursing in Jamaica. She practiced as a Registered Nurse and a Midwife in Jamaica before being recruited to join a hospital in Toronto, Canada. After serving in Toronto for a few years, she was recruited to the United States, where she worked in several Detroit, Michigan hospitals as head floor nurse and later transitioned to specialize in the Intensive Care Unit. After 40 years of nursing, she retired.

Her daughters were her pride and joy. She worked hard to make certain that they would be successful in life. She took great pride in seeing them graduate from college with their undergraduate and graduate degrees. Her four grandchildren came next in line (maybe first). She saw them graduate from college with their undergraduate and graduate degrees, and in March, was able to see the youngest grandson get married.

Gardening was one of her favorite past times. She also loved to travel. One of her favorite activities was the morning water aerobics class at the Ragsdale YMCA. The group was very special to her, and she loved them. She was an active member for over 10 years, until she gave it up at age 90.

Cecelia was a loyal member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. She served as a church secretary, Sabbath School superintendent, Head Deaconess, Community Service Leader, and other positions within the church. Her church family included the Detroit Center SDA Church (Michigan), Baldwin’s Chapel SDA Church (North Carolina), and the Greensboro SDA Church (North Carolina). She loved serving the community. Her many projects included a food pantry to feed those in need, and a sock ministry that provided warm socks and snacks for the homeless. Her last project involved Campus Ministry. She loved young people and prepared backpacks that contained snacks, hand sanitizer, face masks, and other goodies. She was targeting the colleges in the Triad area, and was able to distribute to North Carolina A&T and Winston-Salem State Universities. She shared her love for Jesus, by showing love and kindness to others.

Cecelia was preceded in death by her parents Frederick and Maud Fairclough, her brothers Fabian, Bernard, and George Fairclough, her sister Molly Fairclough, and her sister-in-law Yvonne Fairclough.

She is survived by her two daughters, Colleen Fairclough and Judith (Gregory) Baity, her brother Basil (Pauline) Fairclough, her sister Gertrude Fisher, her four grandsons Darryl II (Stephanie) Calhoun, Jordan Calhoun, Gregory Baity II, and Malcolm (Christine) Baity, her two great-grandsons Darryl III and Desmond Calhoun, her sister-in-law Yvonne Fairclough, and a host of nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, grand-nephews, friends and adopted grandchildren.

The church is offering live streaming of the service; https://www.youtube.com/user/gsosda or

https://www.youtube.com/@gsosda/featured.

Online condolences may be made at www.haneslineberryfhsedgefield.com.