Henrietta Gourdine

Henrietta Louise Gourdine, affectionally known as “Wease” to her loving family and friends, was born on April 13, 1940 in Moncks Corner, South Carolina and passed away November 16, 2024. Wease, the youngest of eleven children was raised in Charleston, SC by her aunt Victoria Graham and her older sister Millie after her mother passed away when she was a small child. Wease graduated from Burke High School and was an outstanding student but as a young, single mother of two small children in the deep south, she was always looking forward, so in 1965 she packed her children into a Greyhound bus and moved west to Oakland, California with nothing but hopes and dreams. One older brother and sister had preceded her out there so she made due in the basement of her sister for a couple of years. During this period, where public assistance kept the family afloat, she took night classes and eventually secured a job as typist/administrative assistant for the Oakland Unified School District where she worked for 38 years before retiring in 2006. Additionally, as a (very) mature adult in her 60’s, she went back to school and earned an Associate of Arts degree from Mills College. She was a strong advocate for assuring that her children, despite any social and economic challenges, be in a position to receive the best education possible, so she made a strategic decision to move the family five miles from a small one-bedroom apartment in Oakland, California to one in Berkeley, California so her children could attend one of the best school districts in the state. Fifty-nine years after that initial leap of faith to go west, between her two children there are two Bachelor of Arts degrees, four Masters degrees and one Doctorate. Wease was a doting grandmother to her only grandson, Sterling, in addition to being a loving mother and sister. She loved her church and God, collecting antiques – she called them “antiques”, we just called it “old stuff”, Starbucks, bad Chinese food and the friendships and numerous trips and activities at the Berkeley Senior Center. She also very much enjoyed her weekly telephone calls with her siblings, children, daughter in law, grandson and friends. The greatest compliment anyone can be given is that, when they are gone, they will be missed. Wease, never one to say a negative word about anyone, regardless of whether or not they earned it, leaves a mark that will survive her physical mortality long past November 16, 2024. Wease was preceded in death by her parents James and Henrietta, brothers James Jr., George, Edward and sister Mattie May Robinson. She is survived by her daughter Delita Gourdine Welch and her husband Jerry Welch, son Robert Gourdine and his wife Dione, grandson Sterling, sisters Millie Martin, Rosa Franklin, Miriam Gourdine, Bertha Lee Bostic and brothers Nathaniel Gourdine and Richard Gourdine as well as legions of other friends and relatives too numerous to specify. A memorial will be held for Wease on Friday December 13, 2024 at 11:00 am – 12:00 pm at:Greater Emmanuel AME Church Cemetery1174 Doctor Evans RoadMoncks Corner, SC 29461 In lieu of flowers please send any donations via check in the name of Louise Gourdine to:Senior Center Donations2939 Ellis St. Berkeley, CA 94704To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Henrietta Louise Gourdine, please visit our floral store.