Ms. Helen Odessa Cleckley

Obituary For Ms. Helen Odessa Cleckley

Funeral services for Ms. Helen Odessa Cleckley, 79, of 200 W 143rd Street Apartment 5-J, Harlem, New York, will be held 1:00pm Sunday, September 29, 2019, at Simmons Funeral Home Chapel, 2868 Columbia Road, Orangeburg. Burial will follow in Emanuel AME Church Cemetery, Cope, SC.

Ms. Cleckley will be placed in the church one hour prior to the service.

Helen Odessa Wright was born August 26, 1940, in Trenton, New Jersey. She was sent to South Carolina and raised by Ms. Cornice Cleckley.

Helen attended the public schools of Orangeburg County and was a graduate of G.W. Carver High School.

Helen then relocated to New York in 1965.

Helen attended Manhattan Citadel Church where she volunteered to help feed the hungry and did kettle collection donations. Helen worked as a home health aide until she retired in 2006.

Helen was a mother to nine children and was preceded in death by a son, James Daniel Cleckley.

She leaves eight children to cherish her memory in the order of their birth: Helen Myers of Orangeburg, SC, Edith White of Bronx, NY, Morris (Cassandra) Cleckley of Cope, SC, Cornice Jackson of Albany, NY, Neva (Thumpy) Powell of Texas, Wanda (Anthony) Cleckley of Fort Worth, TX, Dashym (Shawana) Auset of Hackensack, NJ and Sy Cleckley of Queens, NY; twenty-two grandchildren, Chedney, James, Mario, Devon, La’Sandra, Tevin, Estelle, Sandy, Megan, Nefretiti, Josseline, Jessica, Janelle, Jayson, Lawrence, Vinney, Trey, Neishi, Lawrence, Jordan, Sy Jr., Zoey; eighteen great-grandchildren, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

Ms. Cleckley passed away on Monday, September 23, 2019, at Harlem Hospital, New York, New York.

Visitation will be held 2:00pm – 8:00pm Saturday, September 28, 2019.

Friends may call Simmons Funeral Home & Crematory of Orangeburg.

Online condolences may be sent to www.simmonsfuneralhome.com

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