Augusta Ruth Narcisse

Sunset Memorial Park
Funeral Home and Crematory, LLC
1700 Barrington Rd. Midland City, AL
(334) 983-6604
Robert and Toni Byrd

www.SunsetMemorialPark.com

Augusta Ruth Narcisse, 88, a resident of Dothan passed away Thursday December 17, 2015 at her daughter’s home in Montgomery.

Funeral services will be held 11am Tuesday, December 22, 2015, at Stringer Street AME Church. Graveside services will follow in North Highland Cemetery with Robert Byrd of Sunset Funeral Home directing. The family will receive friends from 10am until 11am, Tuesday, at the church before the service.

Mrs. Narcisse was born February 15, 1927 in Houston County and she lived the early years of her life in Dothan. Her parents were the late Waymon and Robbie Bryson West. She was a graduate of Dothan High School and received B.S. and Masters degrees in Secondary Education from Tuskegee Institute. She was the first Miss Bronze Dothan, and was Co-Founder and President of the Narcissus Literary Club and responsible for the late Mary McCloud Bethune coming to Dothan. She married Calvin Beldon Narcisse in 1956 and they have 2 daughters, Robbie and Calvinetta. Mrs. Narcisse later received two Masters degrees one from the University of Boston and the other from the University of Arizona. She taught elementary and high school in Dothan; Permasen and Baumholder, Germany; Sierra Vista, Arizona; and Cochise College in Douglas, Arizona. While living in Arizona, Mrs. Narcisse was the founder and director of the Huachuca - Sierra Vista drug program called “IALAC (I Am Loveable and Capable)”; founder of Sierra Vista/Ft. Huachuca local Awareness House; founder of the Sierra Vista International Organization for foreign visiting students of the University of Arizona; past member of Arizona Governor’s Commission on Status of Women; and member of the National Commission on the Status of Women. Mrs. Narcisse had been an officer of the Huachuca Business and Professional Women’s Club (President and Vice-President); Pledge Chairman, Alpha Delta Kappa, Arizona Phi Chapter of Cochise County; member of the National Negro Business and Professional Women Club; Chairwoman, Nicaragua Relief Fund, 1973; and board member, Huachuca Area YWCA.

She returned to Dothan in 1982 and was employed again with the Dothan City School System. Mrs. Narcisse was very community minded and very instrumental in founding the children’s radio program on WOOF-FM, God’s Great Army, and participating in Salvation Army programs (Turkeys From Heaven; Friendly Caller), teaching GED classes, sponsoring reading programs and Bible Study programs for children. She organized several National Day of Prayer programs in Dothan and was also very active in food drives at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Mrs. Narcisse was inducted into the 2012 Alabama Senior Citizens’ Hall of Fame. Throughout her life she received many honors including the Outstanding Civic Leader of America award; Mayor’s Outstanding Achievement Award (Sierra Vista, Arizona); Commanding General, U.S. Army Electronic Proving Grounds, Outstanding Community Service Award (Ft. Huachuca, Arizona); and the National Award, National Federation of Business and Professional Women Clubs. Her memberships included the Alabama Education Association (retired); Alabama Democratic Conference (Houston County Branch); Lifetime member of the National Education Association; Lifetime member of NAACP; Lifetime member of Alpha Delta Kappa (Honors) Sorority; Lifetime member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority; and AARP.

She was dedicated from a very early age to service in the church. She was a longstanding member of Stringer Street AME Church in Dothan. She graduated from the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia 1988 and served as an elder and lay Minister at Parks Chapel AME Church and at Stringer Street AME Church.

She also loved to travel and visited Russia, the Ivory Coast, Senegal and Ghana.

Mrs. Narcisse was preceeded in death by her husband, Calvin, and a beloved nephew, Beldon Scott. Survivors include her daughters, Robbie Narcisse and Calvinetta Narcisse-Cousar; son-in-law James Cousar; her grandchildren, James Calvin, Ian, Michael, Kasi, Tamyia and Ahnie; great-grandchildren, Zoe and James Calvin, Jr. and Calvin Beldon; her cousins, Mamie Rose Parrish, John McSwain and Robert Bennett and their families; sisters-in-law, Marjorie Mason and Christine Narcisse; a niece Debra Ann Narcisse; nephews, Noel Anderson, Darryl Anthony Davis, Pavis Narcisse and Christopher Narcisse; several great nieces and nephews; and a multitude of cousins, distant relatives and good friends.

Robert Byrd of Sunset Funeral Home, (334) 983-6604, is in charge of arrangements. Please call us or visit www.SunsetMemorialPark.com for more information.