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Orange Mound community celebrates life of a local legend

Loise Valentine was known throughout the Memphis neighborhood as "Ms. Orange Mound." Funeral services were held Saturday.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Orange Mound residents are celebrating the life of a community legend. 

Funeral services for Loise Valentine were held Saturday at Grace Temple Ministries Church Of God In Christ. They included a carriage-drawn procession down Park Avenue and through Orange Mound.

For over 20 years, Valentine became known as "Ms. Orange Mound," a title residents said is very fitting for her, having moved to Orange Mound in the early 1960s as a teenager. 

Residents said Valentine would often be seen all over "The Mound," whether it was at one of the corner stores, visiting other Orange Mound friends and family or just taking a stroll through the park.

There was no one more proud to be a resident of Orange Mound. 

"Loise was a fixture in the community," said James Davis, Valentine's nephew. "Ask her about any person or any business and she could tell you all you need to know – and more." 

Orange Mound was not just home, but also served as a source of fun and excitement for Lois' entire family. 

Credit: James Davis

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Whether it was the Orange Mound swimming pool, that Davis said had it's heyday in the 1980s and 1990s but has now been closed for over a decade, or the late evening basketball courts of Brentwood Park, residents would find her and her kids enjoying it all. 

"Orange Mound has changed and keeps changing, but I ain't going anywhere else, Orange Mound will always be home," Valentine said recently. 

She lost her life Saturday, February 12, in a house fire. 

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Wednesday, Orange Mound residents held a candlelight vigil and balloon release in Valentine's front lawn on Carnes Avenue.

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