Catherine (Hairston) Bledsoe

With deepest regret, we announce the passing from this life of Mrs. Catherine Bledsoe, 86, a resident of #88 Dunson Court, Roanoke, Alabama, during the early morning hours of Thursday, March 24, 2016.

In Loving Memory Of Catherine Bledsoe

Catherine Hairston Bledsoe was born July 17, 1929 in Five Points, Chambers County, Alabama. Her story -- from birth, to early childhood to adulthood, is indeed an inspirational one, for it is a testimony to the sufficiency of God's Amazing Grace. Catherine was one of two children born to her birth mother, the late Fannie Mae Hooks and father Zelma Dean. By all accounts, her father was never a part of her life. But, there was a childless couple in Five Points, Emanuel and Ida Hairston, who longed for a child. Ms. Hooks being a young single mother, was able to oblige, and therefore gave her baby Catherine to them. They raised her up to be the woman we knew and loved. So, from the beginning, there was love; that of a birth mother who loved her enough to surrender her to surrogate parents who had the capacity to love her from her childhood to young adulthood.

Growing up in Chambers County, she joined Sweet Home Baptist Church at an early age.

Catherine always gave the Hairstons her utmost love and respect, and credited them with being responsible for all that she became in life. Having witnessed tough times wherein many families endured the hardship of -cropping, the Hairstons encouraged Catherine to educate herself. After leaving the south, and migrating to Stamford, Connecticut, she followed the wise counsel of her parents, and became a Registered Nurse.

While residing in Stamford, she met and married the love of her life, the late Kenneth Eugene Bledsoe on February 1, 1958. Their union gave rise to six children. She lived in Connecticut with her family for 50 years. There, she devoted all of those years to working in the Nursing field. She worked for many years at the Wyndover Convalescent Home. She later accepted employment at the Nathaniel Convalescent Home where she remained until she reached the life-long goal she had always expressed to "retire at 60." While residing in Connecticut, for many years, Catherine also served as the Union Rep for Local 1099. As a Union Rep, she fought vigorously for everybody who called upon her for assistance. As a Union Rep, she took on the persona of a "Sojourner Truth" or a "Coretta Scott King." She was well known for being a woman who didn't bite her tongue or hold back, when it came to standing up for what is right. She always taught her children to "Stand Your Ground." Catherine was a woman who believed in living right, and doing the right thing. This is how she raised her children. And it has served us well.

Upon retirement, she returned home with her family to settle in Roanoke, Alabama and re-united with the church of her childhood, Sweet Home Baptist Church in Five Points. She and Kenneth were married over 40 years, and sadly Kenneth preceded her in death, September 8, 1999.

Catherine was also preceded in death by her beloved daughter, Kathy Ann Bledsoe, and her only brother, Thomas Carmichael.

Somehow, knowing that her end was near, Catherine lovingly called her children to her side and comforted them with these words: "I have lived a good life. I have been everywhere I wanted to go.... I've done everything I've wanted to do. I'm tired. I am ready to go home." Concluding a nearly year-long battle with illness, Catherine relented, closed her eyes in death and bid this world farewell.

Catherine Bledsoe leaves to mourn her passing, celebrate her life and cherish many precious and wonderful memories… two (2) sons: Thurman Bledose and Kenneth Bledsoe both of Roanoke, Alabama; a stepson, Frank Rhodes (Rose) of Cape Cod, MA; three (3) daughters: Ida Alexander (Odell) of Roanoke, Alabama, Gwendolyn Watts of Stamford, Connecticut, and Myra Reynolds of Jacksonville, Alabama; twenty-one (21) grandchildren; eighteen great-grandchildren; one (1) great granddaughter-in-law, Larissa Miller; two (2) close cousins, W.B. Berry, and Retha Mae Hooks; a great host of nieces, nephews, other loving relatives, neighbors, and friends.

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