Obituary of Lillian L. Singleton

Lillian Jessie Lee (nee Ricks) was born in East Orange, New Jersey to the late Alexander E. W. and Caroline E. Ricks and she married the late Henry Singleton, Jr. Of this union Henry III (pre-deceased), Karen Lynn, Debra Jo, and Paula Michelle were born. Lillian left us when the Lord called her home on May 11, 2022. Lillian was affectionally known as “Mommy, Poochie, Nana, Lil, Aunt Lil, Chilly Lilly, Miss Ricks, and the Little General” to family and friends. Lillian attended school in the East Orange Public School system and graduated from the Bordentown Manual Training and Industrial School (MTIS) as highlighted in the PBS documentary “A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School. At Bordentown she studied sewing, wrote for the school paper, and graduated in 1941. In later years, she gathered with the Bordentown MTIS Social Club and the Bordentown Monument Committee who were responsible for the dedication of the 2002 Zimbabwe Granite and Bronze sculpture at the original school site. She held several employment positions in the Camden County area including the Cherry Hill Public School District and completed her professional career with the NJ Bell Telephone Company (Verizon) in Collingswood retiring in 1986. Lillian loved dancing, jazz, and soul music, singing with the Mt. Zion Sr./Sanctuary Choir and the Delco Mass Choir, and enjoyed, crafts, and entertaining guests at home. Lillian was highly creative and begrudgingly took piano lessons at an early age but quit because she had to cut her fingernails. She expressed her creativity in many ways around the home in decorating and has been known to “saw the legs off furniture to create a “new look” in the living room or deciding that she wanted a pantry and replaced wall oven space by taking it apart piece by piece and putting in a range oven instead or closing the doorway between the kitchen and dining room which instead became a bookcase and all of this was completed while the kids were at school. So, the family joke became, do not enter the house without the lights on because one would never know what would was changed. With her first love of sewing Lillian beautifully sewed everything from baby clothes, slipcovers, prom dresses, wedding dresses, and other special occasion attire. Lillian was known for her compassion with helping those in need by offering our home as a respite, well known for cooking seafood gumbo or crab boil, baking deep dish apple pie, making homemade vanilla ice cream or sweet potato pie, and making homemade biscuits. She shared her sense of humor with the family but especially with the Bell girls Yvonne, Bessie, Shirley, and Phyllis to name a few and they often gathered to play Pokeno. Lillian was a devoted and loving mother to son Henry III (pre-deceased) and leaves behind to mourn daughters Karen Jenkins (Ronald Alton); Debra Butler (Charles); and Paula Peace (Roger). grand-daughters Sherry Jenkins (Avi Ma’ayan), Nikki Jenkins (Mike Bryant), Milika and Shauna Singleton, and great-grandson Zaire Bryant, along with many nieces, nephews and a host of family and friends.