Bessie Mae (Phillips) Dawkins

Gaffney – Bessie Mae Phillips Dawkins age 80 of 339 Hetty Hill Street, Gaffney, SC., transitioned from this life on Tuesday, June 22, 2021 at her residence. She was the daughter of the late Thomas Phillips Sr. and Maggie Huskey Phillips and widower of Alvin Dawkins Jr. She was preceded in death by a brother, J.C. Phillips.

She was a dedicated member of Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church where she served on many organizations, the senior choir, senior missionary, senior citizens ministry, Thickety Mountain 5th Sunday Singing Convention where she served as assistant secretary. She was a lifetime member and treasure of the Cherokee County Branch of the NAACP.

Ms. Dawkins made her mark in Cherokee County Black History as being the first African American woman to retire from the former Southern Bell/Bell South Telephone Company in Spartanburg in 1994 serving 26 years as a Switchboard Operator. She was a caring, loving, outgoing person, she loved to talked to anyone she met, she loved puzzles, quartet singing and her family.

She leaves to cherish fond memories, a daughter, Beverly Stephens, a granddaughter, Andrea Stephens, two brothers, Thomas B. Phillips (Mary), John Edwin Phillips (Janie), one sister-in-law, Mary M. Phillips. A host of nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, cousins, other relatives and friends whom she loved dearly.

Funeral service will be 1:00 pm Monday, June 28,2021 at Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church with Rev. C.A. Wallace officiating, a thirty-minute visitation, 12:30 pm – 1:00 pm, the body will lie-in-state at 11:30 am. Interment will follow in the church cemetery.

Genesis Funeral Cremation Service & Chapel INC. is serving the family.

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