Ophelia Brown

Ophelia Tuggle was born on September 22 1929 in Covington, TN. She was the only child of her loving parents Shannon Tuggle and Bertha Jones. She was given the beautiful name, Ophelia, by her maternal grandmother, Mama Nancy, but many knew her as “Fefe”.

Ophelia accepted Christ at an early age and lived her life as an example of true Christian love and faithfulness. She gave much of her time, talents and gifts to the church. She served as a Deaconess at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Chicago, IL where she was the captain of the September Circle for 25 years. She also served as a Deaconess at Zion Baptist Church in Denver, CO.

Ophelia and her husband, James Williams, were married for 42 years and owned and operated James and Son Car Wash in Chicago. Upon his passing, she moved to Denver in 2000 to be with her only son and daughter-in-law, Wallace and Yvonne, and their family. In 2006, she married her neighbor Robert Brown. Fefe and Bob enjoyed their family and friends and their lives together until his passing on September 29, 2016.

Ophelia enjoyed celebrating all of life’s precious moments and being a witness to God’s goodness. She was quite the orator and was often called upon to speak at a special program or church event. She once wrote “…the testimony of your life will shine as the sort of example that draws people to you”. That most certainly was true of her.

Ophelia was peacefully called to be with her Lord and Savior on April 26, 2017. Left to cherish her memory is her son Wallace (Yvonne) Shepherd, stepsons Wayne (Shannon) Brown and Larry Brown and sister Patricia Gibbs. There are six grandchildren, Charon (Thomas) Earnest, Tonja Shepherd, Alicia Anglin, Wallace Shepherd II, Antonio Shepherd and Marcus Shepherd; nine great-grandchildren and a host of other relatives, adopted family and friends.