Jennifer Denise Dickens-McClelland

The McClelland family has planned a service of Celebration and Thanksgiving honoring the life of their beloved Jennifer Denise Dickens McClelland, to be held on Saturday, October 22, 2011, at 1:00 p.m. in the sanctuary of First Missionary Baptist Church of Rockport. Dr. J. N. McCollum, the pastor will preach the celebration message. The committal service and final resting place will be at Perla Gate Cemetery in Malvern, Arkansas. Those who want to respectively view Mrs. McClelland may do so, on Friday, October 21st from 2:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at First Missionary Baptist Church of Rockport, 530 E. Moline St., Malvern. The family will receive friends from 6-7 p, m. and share the Images of Life DVD. As we retrace the footprints of Jennifer D. McClelland we can only give thanks for the many lives she touched and enriched along life’s journey. A bold and self confident woman, she was blessed to enjoy many of God’s blessings as a child, a sister, a wife, a mother, grandmother and a true friend. On September 18, 1958, Saul and Dorothy Green Dickens celebrated the birth of a baby girl they named Jennifer Denise. At an early age she accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior. She was a faithful member of First Missionary Baptist Church of Rockport where she attended regularly and served on the pastor’s aide committee. Jennifer was educated in Malvern where she excelled as a student and grew up to be a loving, kind and intelligent young woman. The highlight of her life during that time was the day she graduated from Malvern High School on May 14, 1976. Believing God’s word,…..“and the two shall become one flesh….“ Jennifer D. Dickens became Mrs. Jennifer D. McClelland on April 1, 1977, when she married the handsome and charming David McClelland. The Lord added to their union Lashanta and David. Shortly after marriage she moved to Fordyce, Arkansas where she worked at Millcreek. She later relocated back to Malvern where she worked as a tech at Hot Springs County Medical Center for several years until her health begin to decline. Spending quality time with her family was another highlight of her life. Her beauty, her love and her warmth will be deeply missed by all who were fortunate enough to have known her. Jennifer was very outgoing and fun. She loved celebrating birthdays and holidays in a big way. She loved to shop, shop, and shop. Of all the colors in the world Jennifer loved the color orange and made it major part of her wardrobe. Jennifer has always made the effort to share all of her love and grace with many others she has interacted with. Although Jennifer’s life would seem too short to many, those who were touched by her understood that the quality of her existence far exceeded the quantity of time many of us spent with her. To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the Heaven:…….on Monday, October 17, 2011 in her 53rd season of life she passed from time into eternity. Those awaiting her arrival are her parents, two brothers Howard Dickens, Andy Joe Dickens and her sister-in-law, Shirley A. Dickens. Her life was as the fragrance of a beautiful rose, and her influence will live on in the lives of her husband, David McClelland, Sr., children, Lashanta (Jermiah) Gipson of Malvern, AR, and David, II (Danielle) McClelland of The Colony, TX; four grandchildren, Ariel, Dearian, Arion and Deshawn; two sisters, Annie Hooker of Malvern, AR, and Fannie Ready of Conway, AR; four brothers, Harry (Loretta) Dickens of Seattle, WA, Deotis Dickens of Gurdon, AR, Lee Dickens of Malvern, AR, and Albert (Regina) Dickens of Carthage, AR; one aunt, Lola Allen of Rockford, IL; a special friend Corliss Patton, her mother-in-law, Mrs. McClelland of Gurdon, AR, and a caravan of nieces, nephews, numerous cousins, friends and the First Missionary Baptist Church family.