MRS. MADIS RAY MAYNOR

Mrs. Madis Ray Maynor, 97, went home to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Saturday, February 18, 2023, in Brighton, MI. Madis was born March 8, 1925, in Pembroke, NC. She died at the home of her granddaughter, where she had lived for the past few years being “treated like a queen.”

Madis was the daughter of Mrs. Mary Lee and Mr. Jessie Locklear. She graduated as the valedictorian of the class of 1942 from Pembroke Indian High School. On July 16, 1943, she married Mr. Kynis Maynor of Pembroke. They had four children and made their home in Pembroke until 1956, when the family moved to Detroit, MI. Later, Madis earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Oakland University in Rochester, MI. She taught for several years in a Detroit elementary school.

Church was always very important to Madis. She accepted Christ as her Savior as a teenager. In Michigan, the family attended Temple Baptist Church for many years. Mrs. Madis later attended Prayer Baptist in Westland and, in the last years of her life, Cornerstone Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Brighton, where she made many great friends. Mrs. Madis could often be found crocheting afghans for “whoever needed one next” while humming hymns.

Mrs. Madis was preceded in death by her parents; her brothers: Mr.  Hervie Locklear and Mr. Joe Locklear and her sisters: Ms. Zadie Ray Locklear, Ms. Lydia Doris Locklear, and Ms. Vida Frances Locklear, all of Robeson County, NC; her beloved husband of 50 years:  Mr. Kynis Maynor Sr., in 1993, and her beloved son: Mr.  Kynis Maynor Jr. in 2013.

She is survived by her daughter: Mrs. Sheila Ritchie (Mike), Junction City, KS; her sons: Mr. Ronnie Maynor (Reenie), Livingston, TX, and Mr. Dwight Maynor (Dawn), Wayne, MI; her daughter-in-law: Mrs. Chyral Maynor, Brighton, MI; and two sisters: Mrs. Myrtle Rose Agee (Jim), Pembroke, NC, and Ms. Bertis Lee Brown, Haysville, NC. She is also survived by 10 grandchildren: Michelle Ogle (Rick), who lovingly cared for Madis her last years of life; Brent Maynor (Melissa), Tracy Fogel (Paul), Nicole Maynor, Jesse Maynor (Shannon), Danny Maynor (Laura), Ryan Maynor, Nathan Maynor, Stephen Maynor and Megan Maynor (fiancee Ryan Allen); 23 great-grandchildren; and her foreign exchange daughter Annette Kruetz (Gottfried) and family of Berlin, Germany.

Funeral services will be at 1 pm Friday, February 24, 2023, at Mt. Airy Baptist Church, Pembroke, NC, with burial following in Maynor Family Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the church two hours before the service. In Michigan, Madis’ life will be celebrated with a memorial service at 3 pm Saturday, March 4, 2023, at Cornerstone Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Brighton. The family will receive friends at the church one hour before the service. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, PO Box 908, Bellmawr, NJ 08099 or foi.org; or Cornerstone Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 9455 Hilton Road, Brighton MI 48114. North Carolina arrangements are being handled by Locklear and Son Funeral Home in Pembroke; Michigan arrangements are being handled by J. Gilbert Purse Funeral Home in Adrian.

Mrs. Madis was strong and smart. She was the matriarch of her family. She was a Sunday school teacher, a Girl Scout leader, and a Bible study leader. She was a prayer warrior. She wanted to slip away to Heaven in her sleep, and her family is so grateful to God that’s just what she did.