Ethel Love

On Tuesday, March 17, 2020, Mrs. Ethel Love ended her journey on earth and entered the doorway to heaven’s glory. It is because we know she walked with the Lord during her time with us, we can joyously say with Paul, “Where, O death is your victory?” We rest in knowing that the very moment after she exhaled her last breath on earth, she inhaled her first breath in heaven. And though our hearts are heavy, and the tears flow from our eyes we have yet yield to the peace we have.  Today, she is with our Heavenly Father rejoicing in eternity because she has heard the words that we all long to hear one day, well done, Ethel, my good and faithful servant. Well done. 

 

Ethel’s journey on earth began in Cincinnati, Ohio on July 28, 1947 as the 2nd oldest of five children born to Beula and Nathaniel Banks. It was around that time, in Ethel’s early teens that she met the love of her life, her soulmate and devoted husband, Byrdell Love, in the Evanston area neighborhood in which they were raised. Their courtship blossomed into a romantic love story that culminated in marriage on October 28, 1965.  Within that nearly 55-year union, Byrdell and Ethel had 5 children:  Annette, Lynette, Lovette, Jeffrey, and Tasha. Ethel’s most important ministry and life’s work was, without a doubt, her family. And she and Byrdell loved, supported, and raised each of their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Because of the legacy of faith that she left with her husband, and within each of her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friends, Ethel planted spiritual seeds that will bear fruit for many generations to come. 

 

In addition to having a strong spiritual foundation and unmovable faith, Ethel was a woman of many talents and gifts.  She was a creative spirit with a passion for the art of interior design who made an indelible mark through her expressive style and precise attention to detail. No matter what the project was, she always seemed to bring a unique aesthetic to the design and created environments where love, joy, sincerity and commitment blossomed. Her ability to make the ordinary beautiful is exactly what she did, because that is exactly who she was on earth and who she now is in heaven. 

 

As we rejoice in knowing that Ethel has now made her home in heaven, we take comfort in knowing that she is now with those that she loved and preceded her in death:  Nathaniel Banks Sr., Beula, Ethel Banks, and Perry Gano Perdue.  And now, heaven has our Proverbs 31 woman: “She is clothed with strength and dignity…She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: Many women do noble things, but she surpasses them all.  Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”

 

And so, it is on today that we praise God for the legacy of faith and family gifted to us from the one and only, our matriarch and pillar of strength, Mrs. Ethel Love. 

 

You will always be loved and will never be forgotten in the hearts and memories of those you’ve left behind: Husband Byrdell Love, children, Annette Love, Lynette Love, Lovette Love, Jeffrey Love (Rhonda Love), Tasha Love,  and her siblings Nathaniel Banks (Ramona), Mary Perdue, Michael Banks (Yolanda Banks), Clarence Banks, and her grandchildren Eric Barber (Breana Barber), Darren Barber, Brittany Love, Dominique Turner (Keith Turner Jr.), Christopher Love, Jasmine Love, Blake Love, Jada Love, and her great granddaughter Ayven, and a host of other friends, family members and loved ones.  

 

We will continue to fight the good fight of faith, because you have shown us the way. 

 

Psalm 91:11

“For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.”

Exodus 23:20

“See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.”