Page 24 - McCastle Family Program Booklet 2017.indd

In Loving Memory of
Elmira Doris McCastle and Family
November 25, 1925 -- November 23, 2014
Elmira Doris McCastle was born in Gethsemane, Arkansas on November 25, 1925. She was the first of ten children born to Alberta G. Patterson-McCastle and David McCastle. Elmira received her formal education at Oak Grove Rosenwald Middle School in Altheimer, Jefferson County, Arkansas. The school she attended is now Oak Grove Baptist Church.
Elmira met Robert C. Lewis and was married in 1946 in Stuttgart, Arkansas. Four children were born to this union: Betty, Donny, Margaret and Melba Lewis.
Elmira volunteered as a midwife under the supervision of Dr. J. B. Bryant of Stuttgart, Arkansas. She also worked as a Vital Statistic Filing Clerk for the Arkansas State Board of Health from 1948 to 1952. After her marriage was dissolved, she moved in with her grandmother, Elmira Patterson-Carter, to be her in-home health care provider. During this time, Elmira had three children: Raymond, William, and Ray Charles. Independently, Elmira worked to provide for her children. After her grandmother passed she moved in with her aunt Minnie Patterson-Cummings to save money to relocate to California with her mother and father. By the 1960s Elmira had enough money saved and relocated to Otay, California.
Elmira met Sam Tharpe and their courtship led to a blissful union. Elmira and Sam were devoted to each other and they moved to San Diego with their children including Sammy, Ethel, Dorothy and Barbara. To their union, they added four more children: Tracy, Sam, Jr., Sherrie Lynn, and Anita Kaye Tharpe.
Elmira was amazing sister, mother, grandmother, aunt and friend to all. She was stronger than you knew, more beautiful than you thought, worthier than you believed, and more loved than you could ever imagine. She was passionate about making a difference, fiery when protecting those she loved, a learner who glowed. Elmira was warm, giving, generous, funny, smart, flawed, whole, scared, brave and so much more! She was known as the nucleus of the family and was a strong support system for others.
Ray Charles McCastle (Son)
1959-2010
Anita Kaye Tharpe (Daughter) 1967-2013
Joi LaJauan Hancock
(Granddaughter) 1968-1998
Felicia Lynn Lewis (Granddaughter) 1969-2010
“The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example.” —Benjamin Disraeli 22