Eva Mae Haywood
August 28, 1930 – May 27, 2020

Eva Mae Wright was born on August 28, 1930 in Fair Mount, NC and raised in Lumberton, NC to the Late Jessie James and Nettie Pearl Wright. As the oldest of five daughters with one older brother, she loved and greatly respected her parents; doing anything from plowing, cutting down trees and housework to help ease their daily burdens. As a young girl, she possessed a self-driven independence that propelled her to excel in various areas, including track and field, sewing and intense manual labor; skills she often acquired from observation and then execution.
At the age of 18, Eva Mae accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior and soon found her way to Brooklyn, New York. Under the watchful care of a local pastor, Bishop Lindsey and his wife, she began courting and married a preacher, Rev. Sherman Lee Adside, Sr. on October 16, 1955. As a result of this union, she inherited a son, Freddie Densley-Adside and a daughter, Martha Francis Adside (Bacon). Together, Eva Mae and Sherman Sr. bore six children: Sherman Jr., Rosemarie, Eleanor, Charles, Lyndon and Monalisa (Niyahcée).
Eva Mae was an honorable woman and preacher's wife; as well as, a great mom. She supported her husband in every way possible and cared for her children and home with pride, excellence and ingenuity. She was also a skilled beautician; successfully obtaining her cosmetology license with a steady client base for many years. She also attended Medgar Evers Community College, gaining qualifying credits and certification in Child Care, as a member of Hudson Temple COGIC, serving in their children's department.
After over 13 years of marriage, Sherman Sr. succumbed to cancer, as Eva Mae stood with the responsibility of managing her family and home…. alone. Open to receive love again, she married Rev. Wilbert Randolph Haywood on June 7, 1969. From this union, she inherited five children: Lionel, Veronica, Lenora, Tyrone and Bryon. As a new family of 11, she and her husband raised their children in the ways and works of the Lord. They believed firmly in extending kindness to strangers and were notorious for opening their homes and dinner tables to hundreds of people over her lifetime.
In 1984, Eva Mae Haywood was ordained as an Evangelist and spent many decades teaching, preaching and serving the people of God. She was a phenomenal cook, who was known for feeding over 100 people on any given Sunday, who either attended a service or who came in off the street for a hot meal. Feeding and serving people was a passion of hers that she used to minister to others. After the loss of her husband, Elder Wilbert Haywood in 2009, she moved from Orlando, FL to Cumming, GA. Despite her decades-long illness, she still found the strength and joy to cook and serve alongside her daughter, granddaughter and grandson in their outreach ministries in downtown Atlanta; an act that revived her loved for serving others.
On Wednesday, May 27, 2020, Eva Mae walked into her sweet, eternal rest. She had fought long, was a celebrated overcomer and proclaimed the Gospel of Christ to anyone who would listen. She was preceded in death by her sons Charles, Lionel and Tyrone; and daughter, Lenora.
She leaves to forever cherish her memory: Three sons: Freddie, Sherman and Lyndon; five daughters: Martha, Rosemarie, Eleanor, Niyahcée and Veronica; four sisters: Lou Bertha, Margaret, Cora and Estella; and a legacy of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, family and friends who truly loved her so. 