Jerry Mandebvu

We belong to God, not only for a few fleeting years that we call life, but for eternity. God is on both sides of the river. He walks with us during our earthly life and is there to receive us for our eternal life. 

We are in God’s presence in life, death, and everlasting, yet we must cross the river to receive our crown of life. Jerry Lean Mandebvu’s earthly life began on January 22, 1945, in Cuba, Alabama, when God gave this gentle spirit to the late A. D. Lard and the late Janie Fowler Lard. Jerry received her high school diploma at Middleton School Center in Meridian, Mississippi in 1963. 

Jerry accepted Christ as her Savior at an early age and was united with Oak Grove Baptist Church. She enlisted into the United States Army in 1970. A er entering the military, she furthered her education. Jerry was honorably discharged in 1993. She was employed by the U. S. Military (Army) as a food service worker for twenty-two years and six months. In her leisure, she enjoyed her children, her family, shopping, and she loved to dress. 

Jerry lived a full life, but God saw that she was tired and the hills were too hard to climb. He gently closed her eyes. She quietly succumbed to the Lord on April 20, 2024. She was preceded in death by her father, A. D. Lard; mother, Janie Ann Fowler-Lard; brothers, Lewis Henry Lard and LuGene Lard; and sisters, Georgia Lee Edwards and Lynette Gilmore. 

She leaves to cherish her beautiful memories: her daughters, Cynthia (Slyvester) Simmons, Tiffany (James) Moody, and Vicky Lard; siblings, Otis (Lois) Lard, Alan Davis Lard, Jr., Josephine Kelly, Minnie Carter, Hannah (Joe) Wren, and Katie (Robert) Jones; sixteen grandchildren; a host of great grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.