Ms. Alvie Mae Sanders Rankins
Alvie Mae Sanders Rankins was born on July 21, 1922 in Evergreen, Alabama to Celie Mae Finklea Sanders and Albert Sanders. She and three of her four sisters grew up in a small farming community called China, which is situated on the outskirts of Evergreen, AL. As a young gospel quarter, the “Sanders Sisters” inspired many congregations of rural churches in Conecuh and surrounding counties in the late thirties to mid-forties. As she was blossoming into a beautiful young lady, she met the love of her life, March Rankins, Sr. (deceased), son of Alice Sanders Rankins and Bert Carter Rankins, Sr.
The couple was married on December 27, 1939. Their union of nearly 70 years was blessed with 5 children, all of whom are present, and are mourning her departure from this life.
In 1956, the family moved to New Jersey (Somerset, New Brunswick, and Rahway), where they resided for 43 years. Following retirement from Regina Corporation in Rahway, NJ, the loving couple moved to Tallassee, FL in 1990. Alvie Mae Sanders Rankins departed this life at 11:50am on February 5, 2015 just as she lived it, wrapped in the loving arms of her family.
She will be sadly and deeply missed by her sons – March Rankins, Jr. (Earline), Piscataway, NJ, and Willie James Rankins, Middlesex, NJ; daughters – Mary H. Rankins, Tallahassee, FL, Celia Rankins Hilliard (Joseph), Suwanee, GA, and Jenice Rankins, Tallahassee, FL; sisters – Geneieve Gross, Evergreen, AL, and Eula Kate Booker, Pensacola, FL; five grandchildren – Rachelle, Judith (Kenneth), Kinberly (Eric), Malaika Atrice and Marcia Tendayi (Ray); nine great-grandchildren – Quadar (Andrea), Charmaine (Robert), Sherrell, Demi Erica, Eric, Elijah, Ray Noble, Ava Joyce, Joseph Elijah, and Carter Anthony; six great-great grandchildren – Christian (deceased), Pyrce, Gabriella, Izayah, Ethan, and Robert Jr.; two brothers-in-law – Bert C. Rankins, Jr., and Roosevelt Rankins (Daisy), Somerset, NJ; a caregiver – Ruth Brantley, Tallahassee, FL. She will also be missed by a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
She was preceded in death by her husband, March Rankins, Sr., her father, Albert Sanders, and her mother, Celia Mae Finklea Sanders; sisters – Ivy Lee Rankins (Leon Sr.), and Laura Rankins (Newton).