Obituary of Desiree L Davis El

Obituary for Desiree’ Davis El Desiree Louretta Davis El, lovingly known as “Des” was born on September 4, 1953 to Willis Louis and Louise Betty Mitchell in the Frankford section of Philadelphia, PA. The Mitchell Family moved from Philadelphia and settled down in Camden, New Jersey in 1954. Desiree’s parents believed that the three most important things in life were God, Family, and Education and they instilled this into their children. They made sure that all of them were engaged in academics, extracurricular activities, and service at the church. Desiree’s father helped start the First Refuge Baptist Church in Camden and made sure his entire family was involved in some capacity. Then in the 1960s, the Mitchell family joined St. John Baptist Church where Desiree’ gave her life to Christ. Desiree’ attended Davis Middle School as a child and then attended Woodrow Wilson High School. She graduated in 1973 and later attended Camden County College and earned her Associate’s Degree. Desiree lived most of her life in East Camden. She lived on Thompson Street and was a member of one of the well-known “Eastside” families. Most of the children in these “Eastside” families grew up together, went to school together, and developed lifelong relationships with each other. Des became best friends with Lenora (Nora) Holmes and Bobby Monroe. Nora and Des were so close that Des became the Godmother of her children, Falynn and Kylene Milligan. Throughout the years, Des and Nora began to work together in different capacities. They both had a strong desire to serve children and worked together on many projects for the youth throughout the years. They used to have ceramic nights at the center. Many times she would paint figurines of african americans and their families because she felt it was important for people to see themselves in what they painted. Des also became best friends with Sissy Smith as well. Desiree valued these friendships and spent a lot of time with them growing up. Desiree’ was the fourth of seven children and was very close to her family. As the middle child in a large family, she had no other choice but to stay active. Des and her siblings would help their dad at the 12th ward selling hotdogs and soda at the ball games. Desiree was also very close with her sisters and worked with them in different capacities over the years. She worked with her younger sister LaVerne at the Garden State Racetrack. During that time, Des worked in the steak stand while LaVerne worked at the hot dog and pizza stand. They worked there for over 6 years and enjoyed the annual fairs together. In the late 1980s, Des and her sister Aneita decided that they wanted their daughters to join the Girl Scouts. At that time, no troops existed in Camden so the sisters got together and started their own Girls Scout troop in the city. They worked to develop Daisy, Brownie, and Cadet Troops. They were even able to take the girls and their friends camping each year so they could earn their badges. In the fall of 1986, Desiree’ met Hurley El at a Thanksgiving Family gathering. He was enamored by her eyes and beautiful smile. They both realized that they shared a love of family and a desire to give back to the community. They soon fell in love and were married on April 12, 1989. Desiree and Hurley have a beautiful love story. Together they not only raised their own children but also helped support several other youth in the City of Camden. Throughout the years Desiree’ worked with different organizations but all involved service. She believed to whom much is given much is required. Des worked for the Camden City Board of Education for over 40 years. She was also employed at the Camden Day Nursery where she spent time working with young children. Additionally, Des worked at the Youth Advocate Program (YAP) which is a program that provides community-based services as an alternative to incarceration and other out-of-home placements. This was another partnership that she developed with Nora. They both worked together for YAP for many, many years. The Director of the program called Desiree a brillant, passionate, and visionary leader who dedicated her life to delivering services to youth. She went on to say that, “Desiree's extensive outreach for the youth went beyond measure as she served young people and their families throughout Camden County and will be remembered for her energy, tenacity and ability to leap tall hurdles! Desiree’ has achieved many accomplishments throughout her life. Not only was she a long time employee of the Camden BOE and YAP (over 25 years), she also was the 2012 Employee of the month for Camden City School District in 2012, the honorable Co-founder of Finer Creationz, and a member of St. John’s Baptist Church for over 50 years. During the Pandemic, Desiree was introduced to Victory in Christ Christian Center. She would watch the services virtually and spoke often about how much she enjoyed the service and weekly messages that Bishop John Edmondson shared. Last year, she intentionally made the decision to make Victory her set place of worship. Once she joined, she was so excited and could not wait to serve. In addition to all of her jobs she always found time for family. She not only gave her time to her biological children she also spread her love to other children who were in need. Desiree became a foster parent as well. She had a special place in her heart for youth in Camden. Desiree’ was a very active woman with many hobbies. She liked to travel and participate in activities with her friends and loved ones. She had a special pact with her daughter La’Tavia that Saturday mornings would be their “special time” together to go to yard sales. She loved “finding treasures” and would get up extremely early so she could race out to get the best treasures. Gardening was another one of Des’s favorite pastimes. She took great pride in making sure her yard was beautiful. She enjoyed the different seasons and would put her special touch on all of the flowers and decor. She had a special affinity for wild flowers, especially sunflowers. In addition to yard sales and gardening, Des also enjoyed basket making, crafting, painting sculptures, and decorating. She had the ability to make everything look beautiful. She had that special eye to make the normal look spectacular, a skill that she has passed down to her daughter La’Tavia’ and her special niece Charda. Desiree enjoyed traveling and visited several places throughout her lifetime. Some of the exciting places she visited were New Orleans, Jamaica, and Las Vegas. One of her biggest and most amazing trips was when she traveled to Hawaii with her mother and Brother Ronald. Des also loved to cook and took pride in every meal she made. She started collecting recipes and was working on forming a cookbook to pass down throughout the generations. She believed that cooking and serving good food helped soothe the soul and she enjoyed serving and teaching her family members how to cook. In addition to traveling and cooking, Des grew an affinity for dogs. Her dog Oreo was a very important part of her daily life in more recent years. She loved Oreo and would take him on many trips with her. Last month she had the opportunity to help deliver his 7 puppies and she would watch over them like they were her own. She even helped name them the “Weezie Crew” after her late mother, Weezie. Desiree’ was a quiet servant with a gigantic heart. She never wanted to be in the spotlight. Most times you would find her working in the background. She also had a unique way of making everyone feel special. It was her gift. Whatever she did she put her heart into it. She was a great teammate and always loved with her whole heart and laid everything on the line. If you had a dream or a goal, she felt like it was her job to help you accomplish it. She would always say “I can help you with that if you want”. She had many projects that she worked on with her husband, best friend Nora, sisters and children. As many of us do, Des faced many obstacles and hurdles throughout life but she maintained a spirit of hope and faith throughout every battle and journey. Although she was small in stature standing at only 5’3, her spirit always stood tall. Next to God, Family was the most important thing to Des. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for her family. She loved planning family gatherings at Thanksgiving. Christmas, and BBQs in the summer. She loved spending time with her children. She had a special place in her heart for her grandchildren. Desiree was an amazing wife, awesome mother, outstanding Grandmother (Mom Mom), fabulous Auntie, and unconditional friend. She was very proud of all her children and grandchildren and would often share stories about the things that they have done and accomplished. She was many things to many people throughout her 70 years of life but most importantly she was a faithful servant to God. Desiree was preceded in death by parents Willis Louis and Louise Betty Mitchell and her brothers Bernard Mitchell and Brian Mitchell, and her best friend Lenora Holmes. Forever cherishing her memory, Desiree leaves behind her loving Husband Khaleel El, her children Theodore Mitchell, La’Tavia Mitchell-Johnson (Ronald), Hurley Davis El, IV, Brittni Duncan, Special Niece Charda’ Tabb, Adopted Daughter Rasheeda Braxton; her siblings Ronald Mitchell (Dian), Aneita Mitchell-Ash (Stanley), Derrick Mitchell (Brenda), and LaVerne Mitchell; sister-laws, Kimberly Mitchell and Haidera Bey; her grandchildren, Denzel Mitchell, Desmond Mitchell, Brayden Mitchell, Brooklyn Mitchell, Kweli Mitchell-Brown, Quadir Mahan; Her Namesake Desiree’ Owens, Bioje Holmes, Maleah Andrews, Jennah Mahan, Special Friends Bobby Monroe, Sissy Smith, Kenny Carpenter, Ray Wilson, and host of other family and friends.