Meredith Patranese Terry

A celebration of life for Meredith will be held Sunday, November 13, 2022 at 2:00 PM at Shreveport Aquarium, 601 Clyde Fant Parkway, Shreveport, LA.

A kind, deeply loving and devoted wife, mother and “Gi Gi” who had a sweet demeanor and compassionate heart paired with the loyal fierceness of a mama grizzly bear, Meredith Patranese “Patty Cake” Terry unexpectedly entered her peaceful rest to await her resurrection and receive her place in the Kingdom of Yahweh on 17th day of the 10th month, of 2022.

Born on the 20th day of the 8th month in the year of 1969, to Rev. Henry Dickens and Mary Helen (Taylor) Dickens, Meredith grew up as a preacher’s kid, sheltered and protected as the only daughter surrounded by three brothers. She grew into a beautiful lady with a radiant smile that could light up a stadium and was affectionately known by family as Patranese.

As great as her outside beauty, her inner beauty as an individual shone as bright as the morning star.

At the tender age of 15 she met her 17-year-old, twice-to-be future husband Robert at a Huntington High School dance. Shortly after her 18th birthday the two were married with a daughter (Krishna) and living in California.

By the time Patranese was 21 her second child Robert Adriel was born. Not long after, she enrolled in Antelope Valley College to pursue a bachelor’s degree. She was very pleased to tell anyone who she spoke to that after 30+ years, four major changes, and four or five school transfers, she finally completed her degree in business administration from Wiley College in 2021. She did so in the midst of her role as part owner in three separate successful businesses, and a new solo business venture. Sales and marketing were her forte, and she loved starting new businesses (whether they succeeded or not).

Her true passion was people, and she spent twenty-five years working in the death care industry, helping families through the most difficult times of their lives. She loved helping families in their moments of grief and loss so much she often stated that she would do it for free (to the consternation of her husband).

She and Robert were divorced in 1996 (due to his excessive ignorance and slow maturity

process) but they remained friends and family and stayed a part of each other’s lives through all the intervening years. She remarried, gave birth to children Wellington and Aislyn, then divorced. After remarrying and divorcing again, the stars aligned and worlds collided, and she and (the tremendously less ignorant and enormously more mature) Robert unexpectedly rediscovered their deep love for each other. Their relationship was remarkable, and despite the ups and downs Patranese always prioritized Robert’s relationship with his children. Even at the age of 15, Patranese saw the man Robert could and would become.

Forged and cemented in the commitment to obeying the laws of Yahweh and following the guidance, teaching, and example of Yahushua Messiah, Meredith was baptized into the House of Yahweh, a daughter of Yahweh and given the Hebrew name Ananyah Meredith (Ananyah meaning “Gift from Yahweh”).

Patranese was a constant and dedicated caregiver to her family. She doted on her special needs daughter Aislyn, and even while dealing with her own illness, cared for her 87-year-old father-in-law and her 83-year-old mother. She loved working with the Up with Downs foundation and advocating for special needs children.

A self-described “Caboholic”, she declared to her husband after an initial trip to Mexico’s Cabo San Lucas that she expected to go back at least four times a year — at least until he could figure out how to buy a travel home there.

She had many hobbies, and thoroughly enjoyed life’s small pleasures. She found joy in everything from taking car rides and long walks to hosting family night out events, long phone calls with her brother Blair, and studying the Book of Yahweh. Patranese was the queen of taking selfies and “candid shots” which means her phone and Google Photos held hundreds (if not thousands) of photos taken without anyone’s knowledge, especially her husband Robert.

She could frequently be found logging onto Amazon and gleefully making Jeff Bezos richer, but one of her greatest joys was attending the feasts of Yahweh and working, serving, and learning with her sisters in Yahweh, side by side with her daughter Aislyn. She loved reading, she loved slow dancing at home with her husband, she loved her family, and she loved life.

Above all, her greatest passions were being a mother, wife and Gi Gi, loving her family and

friends, and helping others when and however she could.

Meredith was preceded in rest by her father Rev. Henry Dickens, mother and father in-law Robert Theodore Terry Sr. and Gloria Jean “Pennie” Terry; siblings James Lane, Glenda George, and Brenda Woodward; paternal grandparents Lonnie Davenport Scott and Ethridge Dickens; maternal grandparents Erven Taylor and Mable Taylor West; and maternal great grandmother Elizabeth Pickney Taylor Allen (Mama Lizzie).

Left to cherish Pantranese's memory and learn to survive in this world without her are her high school sweetheart, lifelong friend, always defeated verbal sparring partner, and twice chosen husband Robert Theodore Terry II; her favorite babies (no matter their ages), sons Robert Adriel Terry and Wellington Walker; daughters Krishna Dannese Terry and Aislyn Mahlia Walker; her "Gi Gi Baby" Princess Aria Gabriel; her chosen daughters in love Dominique Alexus Walker, Darcel Diaz-Walker and Brittany Beasley; her siblings Blaine Dickens, Blair Dickens, Brent Dickens, Marlene Washington, Cynthia Dickens, and Leatha Brown, and brother and sister-in-love Paul Anthony Terry and Kiachelan Terry Kelly; along with aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and many friends and former coworkers who were like family to her.

Patranese’s tender heart, deep-seated loyalty and love for her family will be greatly missed by the many loved ones she leaves behind. A bright and radiant light has gone out here on earth for now but will soon shine on eternally in the Kingdom of Yahweh. As Revelation 22:20 says, “He Who testifies these things, says: Surely, I come quickly! HalleluYahweh! May this be so! Come, Yahshua Messiah, Come!”

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.HillCrestMemorialFH.com for the Terry family.