Wilhelmenia Felix Fulwood, at the young age of 96, passed away peacefully on Monday evening, December 18, 2023, at the home of her daughter in Morganton, North Carolina, following a brief illness.  Born in Newark, New Jersey, she was the youngest daughter of the late Purvis A. and Mamie Scarborough Felix.  Most of her younger years were spent in Lynchburg, South Carolina, following the family's return from New Jersey.

"Mena", as she was known to most of her family and friends, attended Mt. Pleasant AME Church as a child and was active in Sunday School.  She enjoyed attending meetings and other church activities with her best friends, "Boot" and "Freddie Mae".  She attended school in Lee and Sumter Counties.  In 1948 she married John Wesley Fulwood and to this union three children were born.  After getting married, she joined Mt. Sinai AME Church where she was very active.

At Mt. Sinai, she was a member of the Women's Missionary Society where she served as President for several years, Class Leader, member of the Usher Board, Stewardess Board and Steward Board where she was recently elevated to Steward Emeritus.   Wilhelmenia was also one of  the original members of the Gospel Choir when it was organized in 1960 and sang with the choir for more than fifty years.

She was one person who was always eager to learn everything she could, always trying    to better herself.  One of the first things she did was earn her high school diploma in 1967.  Later she enrolled in one of Tuomey Hospital's first nurses' aide programs for blacks.  During her lifetime she loved to bowl, took computer classes, learned all kinds of crafts from the  Hope Center, including knitting, crocheting and floral arrangements, etc., to name a few.  For   a number of years she and her husband were foster parents.  They fostered toddlers to pre-teen children and kept in close touch with several of them, even after they were adults.  She worked various jobs  and officially retired in 1990 from  Yuasa Exide Battery.  For many years she was active in the St. Paul Chapter 345 Orders of Eastern Stars.  In her community, she was one of the founders of the Walnut Hill Community Club which is still in existence.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband; sisters, Carrie Lou (Sylvester) Hay, Ruth (John) Franklin, Theola (Tim) Gill and Zenobia (James) Latney; brothers, Fred Felix and Wesley  Eugene (Ann) Felix ; and son-in-law, James "Jimmy" McDowell.

Left to cherish sweet memories are her daughters, Deloris McDowell of Morganton, NC, and Connie Jackson of Travelers Rest, SC; and a son, Jimmie G. Fulwood of Sumter, SC; grandchildren, Kendra Walker (Melvin), Nikki McDowell, Gerod Levey, Angela Fulwood, Roderick Jackson, Anthony Fulwood (Cinda), Kelli Wilson (Kevin), Tirrelle Laughter (Justin); nine great-grands, one great-great grand; a brother, James I. "Baby Ray" Felix of Lynchburg, SC; a sister-in-law, Eunice "Boot" Felix of Lanham, MD, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives and friends.