Lois Mitchell

Mother Lois Mitchell went home to her Lord on Friday, Sept. 6, 2019 in Sacramento, Calif. She entered into this world on June 8, 1926 in Kelly, La. to parents Thomas and Ella Mae Day Carlton. She was raised on a plantation with two sisters, Maggie and Ruby. She was baptized in 1940 in Oak Ridge, La. Lois attended Monroe Colored High School in Monroe, La. There is where she met her sweetheart Ed “Doc” Mitchell. The two were married on Dec., 4, 1942 in Mer Rouge, La. where they started a family.

Lois’s mother Ella Mae was already in Hawthorne and told her daughter that there were plenty of opportunities for work, so Doc and Lois set out for Nevada in October 1948 with four children and one on the way. She held many jobs in Hawthorne, the first cleaning empty houses in Babbitt for families moving in during the Korean War. She worked at the base as an ammunition inspector for awhile. Her last job in Hawthorne was an employee of the Hawthorne Variety Store as the first black cashier in the town. According to her, she worked for the “greatest boss in the world, Bill Kellison”for 30 years.

She started a Sisters in the Lord bible study group in her home and it lasted over 20 years. Everyone was welcome. She also helped found the community prayer group which meets monthly at various churches under the direction of her Pastor Robert Cox and First Lady Leila Cox.

She was predeceased by her parents, two sisters, two children Elmarie Mitchell, and Shelley Assagai. Also, granddaughter Yolanda, whom she helped rear. She leaves to cherish her memories her children: Ella Belle, Lillie Dickens, Barbara Mitchell, Cevie Roberts, Patricia Williams and Michael Mitchell, 18 grandchildren, 49 great grandchildren and 30 great great grandchildren. She also has nieces, nephews cousins, adopted children through Christ and many friends.