Marion Virginia Bazemore

Our mom, Marion Virginia, born in Portsmouth, Virginia on October 17, 1930 to the late Linwood and Pettroner Jones as the fourth oldest of fourteen children lived to be eighty-six years of age and is now "free, no longer bound; her soul is resting, it is a blessing; hallelujah she's free." Marion loved the Lord and lived her life perfectly in love with Christ. She dedicated more than seventy years to Horace Lee Bazemore, Sr. and their children raising them to be good citizens, give freely to others, to lend a hand, feed those in need, and to love one another. Mom had a beautiful and bold spirit. She dared to stick up for her siblings in a fight, move herself from the school system in Portsmouth to the one in Norfolk without permission from anyone, attend the March on Washington to hear Martin Luther King, marry at sixteen years old, and move nine children on an electrician and nurse’s aide salary to this prestigious neighborhood of teachers, principals, and realtors where we were sustained and grew up. Furthermore, if her siblings needed a place to live, Mom opened our doors and allowed their whole families to stay. She did this in the neighborhood that frowned on us having nine where most had only two children. Mom did not finish high school because she had to farm alongside her parents, but she preached education and success to her children who are now accomplished. At seventy years old Mom, with our dad, dared to raise foster care children into adulthood and even adopted one. Mom danced. She did the swing and jitterbugged. People loved to see her dance and she knew it, flaunting her pizzazz and vitality. Yet, there was no dance she loved more than her shout for the Lord. Mom was vibrant, knew no stranger, and gave overwhelmingly of her love and her means. Mom was good to life and life was good to her. Marion, pre-deceased by one daughter, Brenda Aileen, leaves to cherish her memory, a husband, Horace Lee Bazemore, Sr.; three daughters, Phyllis Baisden (Kenneth), Marion Watts (Keith), and Dr. Debbie Harrington (Robert); six sons, Rev. Horace (Sylvia), Rev. Dr. Christopher, Timothy, Michael (Juanita), Vincent, and Jeffery Bazemore; two daughters she raised as her own, Andrea Shearin (Jake) and Penny Walker; 14 grandchildren; 11 great grandchildren; five sisters; four brothers; and a host of nieces, nephews, and endeared friends. "Give me my flowers while I can smell them. " Marion V. Bazemore. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Marion Virginia Bazemore, please visit our Heartfelt Sympathies Store.

Marion Virginia Bazemore

October 17, 1930 - August 22, 2017