Charlene Jenkins

WILSON - Charlene Sluder Jenkins, 88, went to the Lord on Saturday, January 16, 2016.

DUE TO WEATHER CONDITIONS, NOTE IN PARAGRAPH BELOW THE DAY AND TIME CHANGE FOR THE SERVICE.

A celebration of her life, led by the Rev. Steve Clayton, will be held at 1:30 p.m., Sunday, January 24, at Wilson Memorial Service, followed by visitation. Burial will follow in Evergreen Memorial Park. Family will gather in Wilson at 11 a.m. that day at the home of her daughter.

Born in the NC mountains to Pauline Valaree Trantham and Charles Cotton Sluder, she married Henry H. Jenkins during World War II and soon moved to eastern NC, where she spent the remainder of her life. Her daughters are Faye J. Maclaga of Wilson and Becke Roughton (husband, Jerry) of Kenansville. Grandsons are John (and Karen) Maclaga of Wilson and Brian (and Katy) Maclaga of Atlanta. The great-grandchildren are Sarah, Lauren, Anna, and Lydia Maclaga of Wilson, and Harlan Michael and Eva Maclaga of Atlanta.

She was preceded in death by her former husband and by her first son-in-law, Michael J. Maclaga.

She liked to recall happy childhood times with many cousins, aunts, and uncles from the mountains.

Charlene Jenkins, an only child, especially enjoyed the additional family of in-laws gained by her marriage and always considered her caring Jenkins nephews and nieces a lifetime bonus. She was blessed again when her family expanded in midlife to include the affectionate members of the Maclaga family. She also appreciated good neighbors and friends, including those from her church, First Baptist Church of Wilson, who often shared the love of Christ in ways both large and small. The family would like to thank the remarkable individuals of Avante of Wilson and physicians like Dr. Lindsey de Guehery, who cared for her during the last years of her life.

While parenting, she also was employed as a bookkeeper or office manager. One of her great desires was to help further research to combat Alzheimer's, which she did by remaining a faithful volunteer in a longitudinal study by the Joseph and Kathleen Bryan Alzheimer's Disease Research Center in Durham. Her family remembers her as a hospitable, creative, compassionate, and intelligent woman with a lively sense of humor. She enjoyed reading, gardening, sewing and design, cooking, music, visual arts, and especially her family and friends. A person of modest means, she always shared generously with those who had less: "There, but for the grace of God, go I."

Condolences may be expressed at www.wilsonmemorialservice.com. Besides wanting to encourage the work of First Baptist Church (FBC Wilson, PO Box 1467, Wilson, NC 27894), Charlene Jenkins especially liked an idea attributed to writer Robert N. Test: "If by chance you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you."