Mollie Helen (Gilliam) Battle

   Mollie Helen Battle, 77, of Portsmouth, passed away Sunday, April 22, 2018 at Seasons Hospice in Cumming, GA. She was born August 8, 1940 in Guilford County, NC, a daughter of the late George “Pete” Gilliam and Alberta Fulp Gilliam Whitehead.

   Mollie was a longtime active member of Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church and a 1959 Portsmouth High School graduate. She received an Associate Degree in Nursing from Shawnee State Community College and worked at the former Mercy Hospital and retired from SOMC after more than 40 years in nursing.

   She is survived by three children, Jonathan “Johnny” Battle of Alpharetta, GA, Maura Denise “Neecie” Battle of Portsmouth, and Maria D. Battle of Alpharetta, GA; her former husband, Grady L. Battle, Sr., to whom she was married for 53 years; two brothers, Phillip and Carvie Whitehead, both of Walnut Cove, NC; five sisters, Josephine Gilliam of Woodbury, NJ, Patricia Goolsby of Belews Creek, NC, Daisy Mae Saunders of Winston-Salem, NC, Mary (Julius) Welch of Walnut Cove, NC, Carolyn (Walter) Whitehead-Satterfield of Winston-Salem, NC;  a host of nieces and nephews; and a special friend, Dorothy Jean Ferguson of Austin, TX.

   In addition to her parents, Mollie was also preceded in death by a son, Grady L. Battle, Jr.; her maternal grandparents, Carvie and Mamie Fulp, and an aunt and uncle, Ruby and Lonie Hairston, all who reared her; and two sisters, Willie Bea Whitehead and  Elaise Welch.

  Funeral services will be held at noon Saturday at Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church with Rev. Margaret V.L. Tyson officiating. Interment will be in Scioto Burial Park. Arrangements are under the direction of the Ralph F. Scott Funeral Home in Portsmouth.

   The family will receive friends at the church from 10 a.m. until the funeral hour.

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