Photos by Timothy Ramsey
The church was filled with family and friends to honor the legacy of Mildred
Peppers.
Peppers
from page A1
ing as a teacher in the
Hickory and Winston
Salem/Forsyth County
school systems. In 2001,
Peppers retired after 29
years of service.
Peppers was a faithful
member of Emmanuel
Baptist Church for 40
* years. She was a Deacon,
- Deaconess, Sunday school
teacher, missionary and
? new members class and
Vacation Bible school
; teacher. She was a member
of numerous other church
* ministries. Two ministries
that were especially dear to
her heart were Kemet and
; Ujima. She had the gift of
teaching not only in the
church but with her lessons
in The Chronicle as well.
"When I came to The
Chronicle in November
2014, there was no religion
column. I found out Mrs.
Peppers was ill. After a
while, she came back and I
was able to work with her
through telephone and
email. She was great to
work with and even
assessed her latest illness in
a way to allow us to find
another person to write the
column. She worked with
us and helped us find her
replacement. She was an
icon in the community.
People were distraught
when they found out she
would not be writing the
column anymore. We miss
her dearly," said Donna
Rogers, Managing Editor
at The Chronicle.
The funeral service was
a lovely tribute to Peppers.
Reflections were given
from the church and family
members who spoke most
fondly of her. The Rev. Dr.
John Mendez, pastor of
Emmanuel, delivered the
eulogy. Mendez spoke
about the lives that Peppers
touched over the years. He
spoke about her infectious
sense of humor and said
"the reality is that Mildred
preached her own eulogy"
by living such a fruitful and
God-loving life.
Peppers was a beloved
woman by everyone she
came into contact with and
her Sunday School Lessons
in The Chronicle were not
only insightful but also
inspired others to touch on
similar topics for their les
sons.
"We have missed Mrs.
Peppers' Sunday School
Column for a while now,"
said Ernie Pitt, editor emer
itus at The Chronicle. "I am
certainly saddened by her
passing. However, I know
firsthand that she was a
woman of God. She was a
true believer and worked to
deliver a lot of lessons to
other Sunday school teach
ers through her column.
Godspeed, Mrs. Peppers.
We will all see you in the
by and by. Peace be unto
the family and her many
friends ... including The
Chronicle."
Joneice Pledger, daugh
ter of Peppers, gives
family tribute.
Photo by Todd Luck
WSTA Director Art Barnes listens to a question by passenger DJ Murphy on the
new bus routes at a meeting held on Nov. 10 at the Martin Luther King Jr.
Community Center.
Routes
from page AI
stops with all the informa
tion needed to check on a
bus' arrival time and desti
nations via text, phone call
or online. After that, WSTA
staff personally worked
with each of the four pas
sengers in attendance on
their questions about the
routes they use.
One of the passengers
was Leo Burton, who is
blind and relies on the bus
and Trans-AID to get
around. At first, the new
routes would've eliminated
his bus stop and made him
walk further to get to the
bus. After voicing his con
cerns in one of the many
comment meetings on the
new routes earlier in the
year, his bus stop was pre
served. However, the
changes in routes will have
him dropped off a few
houses down from where
he lives on the return trip.
"That's a change, but it
ain't no problem," Burton
said.
Another passenger was
DJ Murphy, who's been
riding the bus his whole
life. He's studied the new
routes and though some of
them are a little farther
away from where he lives,
he felt that overall the
streamlined rides and
extensive routes will please
passengers. He said he
found the new routes to be
intuitive.
"This system is very
easy. It's not confusing," he
said.
Murphy did find an
issue in some of the routes.
He noticed Saturday routes
that connect with a bus that
goes to Hanes Mall and
local hospitals in the morn
ing starts too late for pas
sengers who ride it to work
in the morning. Carson
Wilkins thanked him for
finding a flaw in the routes
they had missed and said
WSTA would get to work
fixing it.
For a list of the remain
ing bus route meetings, see
the WSTA's ad in this
week's Chronicle.
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H. Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974 and is published
every Thursday by Winston-Salem Chronicle Publishing (
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