Zepherea Marie "Zeppy" Kidd

KIDD, Mrs. Zepherea Marie "Zeppy" - Age 80, passed away Sunday November 29, 2015 at Boulevard Health Center in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Family hour 10:30 AM Wednesday, December 9, 2015 from the Chapel of Lawrence E. Moon Funeral Home 268 North Perry Street, with Memorial service commencing immediately at 11:00 AM. Supt. Derrick L. Jones, Officiating. Family and friends will assemble at the funeral home at 10:30 AM Wednesday. There will be no Public Viewing. Mrs. Zepherea Marie Kidd was born the sixth of nine children to Willie Ann (Montague) Stephens and Frank Stephens Sr. She was known as “Marie” or “Rea” to most, but affectionately called “Zeppy” by her husband. After living several years with dementia, God gave her wings on November 29, 2015, during her sleep at the Boulevard Health Center. Mrs. Kidd was raised in Pontiac, Michigan, attending Pontiac Public Schools. As a child she was baptized at New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, where she remained a faithful and active member until shortly after her February 2014 placement in the nursing home. As a single mother, she supported her children while employed as a domestic worker, later becoming a stay-at-home mom and housewife after marrying Lee Roy Kidd, in February 1967, with whom she had her last child. After retiring as a stay-at-home mom, she served as an Election Officer for District 1 of the City of Pontiac. She loved to cook, preparing many southern-style meals and desserts for her husband and family. Many will never forget greens, dressing, beans, (or peas) and rice, cornbread, rice pudding, sweet potato and lemon meringue pies, pound cakes, fruit cakes, even the pancakes that only she could make. You could taste the love in her cooking! She loved her houseplants and enjoyed collecting elephants, and different types of each could be found in almost every room. She was a very sociable person who loved to travel and party, whether it was a family gathering, church picnic, neighborhood block party, club convention, American Legion weekends, or meeting weekly to play Pokeno with close friends. She also excelled at Bingo at the nursing home, winning every time! She was a member of the Wives of the 761st Tank Battalion and later the Golden Opportunity Seniors Club, never missing a function or outing. At home she would regularly sit with neighbors on the porch or walk around the block, “just to see what’s going on” as she would say, and she did the same thing from her wheelchair in the nursing home. Marie and her husband were devoted to each other in their own special way, such that neither her nursing home placement nor his death just months ago, could keep them apart. A true love story played out in real life, she died of a broken heart, but they are now reunited at the Gates of Heaven. Marie was known for her sassy attitude, tell-it-like-is personality, big pretty eyes and smile, her love for food, and the “Ok I’m ready to go now!” She will be missed dearly by all who knew and loved her. Mrs. Kidd is survived by five children, Janice (Bobby) Love, Bernadine (Keith) Bryant, Lewis (Bloneva) Stephens, Vonda Kidd (Knockie Moore) and Bonnie Smartt; thirteen grandchildren, Marvin (Keisha) Taylor, Tamara (Vaughn) Brown, Yolanda Dixon, KaTanya (Carlos) Edwards, Kelly Elam, Lewis (LaShawnda) Clark, Antoine, Kenyatta and Khalema Stephens, Donnie, Donielle, Derrick and DeAndre Smartt; thirty two great grandchildren; eight great great grandchildren; two sisters, Queen Ester Coleman-Webb and Geneva Dembo; five brothers, Gloucester, William, James Wesley (Mary), Robert Earl (Jessie) and Jesse (Lue) Stephens; three sisters-in-law, Frankie (Leon) Chism, Canary Malone and Thelma (A.C.) Mosley; five brothers-in-law, Charles Malone Jr., William (Amelia), Isaiah, George (Annette) Lovelace (Harolyn) Kidd; a host of nieces, nephews and other relatives including special great nephew, DeVaughn Stephens. Mrs. Kidd was preceded in death by her husband, Lee Roy Kidd; grandson, Raymond Clark Sr.; parents, Frank Sr. and Willie Ann Stephens; brother, Frank Stephens Jr.; uncles, James and Earl Montague; close sisters-in-law, Billie and Naomi Stephens; and several other in-laws. The family would like to acknowledge and thank the following people for their kindness throughout the years: close friends, Edith Davis, Margaret Brewer, Betsy Barnes, Gladys Hardy, Nina Johnson, Mary Graves and Francis Scruggs; and for the last thirty-three months the staff at Boulevard Health Center.

Zepherea Marie "Zeppy" Kidd

June 20, 1935 - November 29, 2015