Delorious Lorraine McCreary Safford, age 82, of Mobile, Alabama, departed this life on Friday, December 29, 2023.
She was born May 5, 1941 to Lorraine Craig McCreary and Albert McCreary, Sr. in Mobile, Alabama. She graduated from Central High School and attended Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana with an interest in Theater and the Arts. She was a lifetime member of Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Born with a huge heart, she devoted her life to caring for others. She was the oldest child of seven children and a second mother to her siblings, nieces, nephews, grandchildren and neighbors. She married and had three children who became her pride and joy. As a homemaker, she served as a substitute teacher where she touched and encouraged many lives crossing her path. She worked at Mobile Infirmary as a Unit Secretary for many years. Upon leaving the healthcare industry, she continued caring for others as she became a foster parent/mother. She was a social justice advocate, a leader and an avid historian. She was a protector, a deep-thinker and a problem-solver. While contemplating, she would poke her lips out and subsequently earned the nickname Pookie. Her hobbies were many but she was most noted for her
dancing, gardening, decorating and making this world beautiful as a talented seamstress. She embodied love.
Delorious Lorraine McCreary Safford was preceded in death by her parents, a sister, Julia Patricia Ann McCreary, a brother, Bernard Levon McCreary, and a sister, Jacquelyn Sherrell McCreary Smith.
She leaves to cherish her memory two daughters, Sonya Yvette Slay and Dr. Christal Alantha Waller, APRN; one son, Earl Safford, Jr; one sister, Deborah McCreary Maldonado and two brothers, Albert (Ann) McCreary, Jr and Prophet Alvin
McCreary; seven grandchildren, Regine Yvette Slay, Reginald Quentin Slay, II, Larry Henle Waller, II, Landon Harrington Waller, Ashley Nicole Safford, Whitley Delorious Safford and Justin Earl Safford, five nieces, Sherrell Hollins Love, Jade
Blackmon Thompson, Alison (Darryl) McCreary Gardner, Amber (Nicholas) Gooden Frazier and Angel McCreary; four nephews, Bernard (Victoria) McCreary, Jr, Derrick (Princess) McCreary, Tyrone Smith and Albert (Dwanna) Jonathan McCreary; eight great-grandchildren, Mariyah Tillman, Dave Populus, Ashton Tillman, Raegan Hunter, Eric Chester, Chancellor Williams, Weslyn Safford and Malani Slay and a host of other relatives and friends.
Monday, May 5th, 1941 - Friday, December 29th, 2023
When Saturday, January 13th, 2024 9:00am - 10:45am Location Metropolitan AME Church Address 750 Dr Martin L King Jr Ave Mobile, Alabama 36603.When Saturday, January 13th, 2024 11:00am Location Metropolitan AME Church Address 750 Dr. When Saturday, January 13th, 2024 Location Mobile Memorial Gardens Address 6100 Three Notch Road MOBILE, AL 36619. Martin L King Jr Ave Mobile, Alabama 36603.
