Hattie Evelyn Beasley

Hattie Evelyn Beasley, 76, of Charles City, Virginia, transitioned this life and returned to God in eternal rest on May 30, 2016.

Born on Dec. 1, 1939 in Eastover, South Carolina to the late Sidney and Evelyn Grooms, Hattie was the youngest girl of six daughters and the twelfth of fourteen children born during their union. Her father made the news as one of the first black farmers to own a tractor in South Carolina. Hattie and her older sister Mattie snuck and drove the tractor with Hattie hanging off the back and knocked down half of their barn.

As a child, Hattie attended Webber High School and Piney Grove Baptist Church in Eastover. In 1955, she moved to Richmond, Virginia, with her parents where she became inseparable from her cousin of the same age, Myrna Atkins. As a teenager, Hattie followed in the footsteps of her older siblings Mae, Thelma, Marion, and Mattie as they moved to Boston, Massachusetts, during the second wave of the Great Migration.

In 1958, Hattie met William E. Beasley, her cousin Myrna’s husband’s best friend, whom she married and in 1960, gave birth to their only daughter, Tonya. After a separation from her husband in 1967, Hattie met Willie J. Phillips and in 1973, gave birth to their only son, Andre’.

In 1975, Hattie received her G.E.D in Boston and in 1978, received a certificate of achievement in Early Childhood Education from Roxbury Community College.

Hattie cared for her sister’s children before taking on odd jobs and taking career employment with the Gillette Company in Boston. She was employed for more than 25 years at the company before retiring in 1999 as a production supervisor.

In 2000, Hattie moved to Charles City to be near her older sister, Mattie, who had moved to Charles City eight years prior to care for their ailing parents.

Hattie was preceded in death by her parents, Sidney and Evelyn Grooms; two paternal half siblings born before the union of her parents; eight brothers, Odell Grooms (Irene), Marion Grooms (Lillie), Richard Grooms (Willie Mae), Chester Grooms (Dorothy), Joseph Grooms, Sidney Grooms Jr. (Ruthie), Thomas Grooms (Beatrice), and John Grooms (Linda); five sisters, Elizabeth Graham (Rudolph), Thelma Moss (Willie), Ida Grooms, Donna Grooms, and Mattie Hughes (Jim); her husband, William E. Beasley; her partner, Willie J. Phillips; her son, Andre Phillips; close cousin, Myrna Ruth Atkins; and best friend from Boston, Flo Jackson.

Hattie is survived by a loving daughter, Tanya Dean (David); two grandchildren, David Dean and Tahirah Phillips; two great-grandchildren, Jakhi David Dean and Kaylicia Joy Spencer-Dean; four sisters-in-law, Lillie Grooms, Dorothy Grooms, Beatrice Grooms, and Linda Grooms; one step-daughter, Rhonda Beasley-Goines; one son-in-law, David Dean Sr.; one daughter-in-law, LaKersia Cash; devoted cousins, Elizabeth Roberts and Nathan Grooms; as well as several other cousins, nieces, nephews, relatives, friends, and loved ones.

Hattie was cremated and her ashes placed where her son and son’s father were laid to rest and also where her mother and father are laid to rest.
She will be remembered and honored by those she touched so deeply with her loving, easy going nature. May God be pleased with her as the last of her siblings to join the rest of our family in eternal rest.

The family thanks all of those who offered prayer and condolences in the passing of Hattie.

Cremation services entrusted to J. Leroy Charity Funeral Home, 5130 John Tyler Memorial Highway, Charles City, Va., 23030.