Rebecca Sue Birmingham Bryant

Rebecca Sue Birmingham Bryant, 86, passed away at Craighead Nursing Home on Friday, May 26,2007. Born in Darden, Tennessee, February 8, 1921, she was the second of seven children born to Lena Mae Hill and Walter Otis Birmingham. Preceding her in death were her parents, two sisters-Lorene Daniels and Burlah Salyer, and one brother-Ernest Hal Birmingham. She is survived by her two children, Patricia Dooley Bowman of Jonesboro, Arkansas, and George Patrick Dooley of North Richland Hills, Texas, by one brother, James Birmingham of Cudjoe Key, Florida, and two sisters, Lena Blair of Tupelo, Mississippi, and Ruth Overton of Memphis, Tennessee. She will be greatly missed by her six grandchildren with whom she shared a loving and special relationship: Jennifer Bowman Harris of Jonesboro, Arkansas, Clayton Wood Bowman of Grapevine, Texas, Kristin Dooley Spradlin of Dallas, Texas, Joshua Dooley of Fort Worth, Texas, Elizabeth Dooley of North Richland Hills, Texas, and Dana Dooley Franklin of Hickory Flats, Mississippi. She also leaves ten great-grandchildren, a host of relatives, and many friends. At seventeen she and her family relocated to Chicago, Illinois, where she lived for many years learning the restaurant and night club business before moving to Cairo, Illinois. She owned and operated the El Patio and then Becky's Club Charming, later Becky's Steak House, successful and well-known night club/restaurants in Southern Illinois. She was renowned for her stunning beauty and dazzling flair for fashion and was photographed with many notable visitors to her establishment like Stan Musial, Harry Carey, Jr., and King Hussein of Jordan. Wanting to be closer to her family, she moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where she continued to work in the food industry until her retirement from ARA Food Services in 1983. In 1994 she moved to Hobbs, New Mexico, to be near her daughter until the onset of Alzheimer's disease led to her residence at Good Samaritan Village in Hobbs and then Craighead Nursing Center in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Her family would like to thank both of these facilities for the excellent care and loving assistance that Rebecca received at the hands of care givers, personnel, and administrators. A lifelong Christian, she was known for her kind heart and generous spirit. True to her faith, Rebecca's heart was always open to the poor and disenfranchised. She especially loved children and babysat for working parents- those who could afford a babysitter and those who could not. She marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis because, as a working person herself, she sympathized with the plight of the garbage workers, whom she felt had a just cause for striking for higher pay and better benefits. Her special ministry was her volunteer work at The Home for Incurables in Memphis. She took many of the residents to her home, out to lunch, and to their doctors' appointments. She sold their arts and crafts handiwork so they could make a little spending money. Rebecca was a member of First Assembly of God in Memphis, Tennessee, for 35 years, as well as an avid student of the Bible and a faithful member of the congregation. She taught Sunday School, worked in vacation Bible school, drove the church van, and assisted in nursery care. The family requests that no flowers be sent. Instead, if you wish to honor her memory, you can make a contribution to the church of her childhood, Corinth Baptist Church, 1350 Corinth Rd., Darden, Tennessee 38328.

Funeral services will be 2:00 P.M., Sunday, May 27, 2007 at Emerson Memorial Chapel. Burial will be private. Visitation will be from 5 - 7 at Emerson Funeral Home on Saturday night.

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