Elaine Lucille English Thigpen

Elaine Lucille English Thigpen, age 88, of Middleburg, FL passed away peacefully on Friday June 26, 2020. She was born to Edward L. English and Vera E. Meyers on April 8, 1932 in Grand Rapids, MI. While attending the University of Miami she met and married Louis William “Bill” Thigpen. For many years, Elaine was an active member of First Baptist Church of Perrine, Miami, where she was a Sunday School teacher, a member of the choir, and was involved in various other service ministries. Her involvement in missions included several trips to Mitchell’s Plain in Cape Town, South Africa where she facilitated Vacation Bible School for orphans. She also devoted her time to a camp in West Virginia for those less fortunate. For twenty-seven years, she was an educator at Perrine Baptist Academy and served as a trustee for the same institution. Since arriving at Penney Farms in 2007, Elaine enjoyed volunteering at the Resale Shop and the Hagan Center while also participating in Sunday School, choir, and the Senior Adult group at First Baptist Church Middleburg.

Elaine lived out her faith by loving on people with warmth, friendliness, and had an ability to make others feel included. She was famous in her many social circles for her quick wit and loving sarcasm. Her spunk, grit, and resolve contributed to a life well-lived. Ever a woman of the Greatest Generation, she was generous with her time, talents, and finances; never failing to lend a helping hand without having to be asked.

Elaine was preceeded in death by her parents and her beloved husband Bill.

She is survived by her brother, William Edward “Billy” English (Janet), of Coral Gables, FL; her four children, Linda Watson (Terry) of Lithia Springs, GA; Bill Thigpen (Cindy) of Stone Mountain, GA; Susan Nichols (Brett) of Fayetteville, GA; Laurie Washington of Dallas, GA; and twelve grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren with one more on the way.

There will be a lakeside family Celebration of Life in the afternoon on the 4^th of July at the home of her eldest daughter.

In lieu of flowers, donations to Samaritan’s Purse or the Clay County Agape House Ministry would carry on her legacy of missions.