Marcedis Wynns

Marcedis Wynns was born on March 14, 1937, to the union of Rufus and DeWanda Helen Wynns in Pulaski County, Illinois. She attended Lovejoy Elementary and Douglass High School, before migrating to South Bend, Indiana to join her parents in establishing residency in their new hometown.

Marcedis graduated from John Adams High School and continued her education at Ball State University, where she majored in Home Economics and pledged Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. She interrupted her education after passing a test to work at the United States Post Office (now known as the US Postal Service) as a mail clerk in Chicago, Illinois. After several years with the Post Office, Marcedis returned to college and completed her Bachelor of Science in Home Economics at Andrews University. She worked for a time with the South Bend Housing Authority, then landed a job as a County Extension Agent with the Saint Joseph County Extension Service, where she embraced her role as a community educator, traveling to rural areas and offering instruction on basic homemaking skills to women (and some men!) throughout the county, as well as supervising youth in 4-H Clubs.

When the opportunity to once again advance her education presented itself through her employer, Marcedis attended Purdue University on an employer-funded scholarship, where she earned her Master's Degree in Child Development and Family Living. She continued her work in the Greater South Bend community until another opportunity took her to Indianapolis, Indiana, where she was employed at Naval Avionics.

In her later years, Marcedis found employment at the Mishawaka Branch of the Indiana Motor Vehicle License Bureau, where she worked until retiring. Not content with the more relaxed lifestyle of a retiree, Marcedis became a substitute teacher with both the South Bend Community School Corporation, and with Mishawaka Public Schools, which she continued on occasion until her health would no longer permit her to work.

Marcedis was a founding member of Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church, where she often served as Mistress of Ceremonies for church programs, and became known in the church community for a stirring pantomime of the hymn "The Old Rugged Cross".

After a bit of research of her family's history, Marcedis felt a call to unite with Olivet AME Church, where she was a member of the Missionary Society. She was committed to instilling a love for Christ in young people, and worked with them whenever she had the opportunity through the Missionary Society, and programs specifically designed for the church's youth. She was also a choir member for a short time at Olivet.

Marcedis is preceded in death by her mother and father; several aunts, uncles and cousins.

Left to cherish her memory are her sister, Coryliss Lorraine Wynns; an aunt, Rosita Wynns; an uncle, Donald Riggins; cousins: Otis Riggins Jr., Zonia Katherine Wynns, and George Edward Foree Jr.; a close friend, Annie Anthony; as well as a host of other relatives and friends.

"I will cling to the Old Rugged Cross, and exchange it someday for a crown".

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