Missouri Molock

Missouri Arrington Molock, age 101 ½ years old of Wilmington, Delaware, and formerly of Meriden, Mississippi, died on Saturday, July 20, 2024, at the home she shared with her daughter, Darlene, in North Carolina following a brief illness.

Missouri, or “Missey” as she was fondly called by her family and friends, was born November 4, 1922, one of eight children born to the late Sip Arrington and Nancy Brewster Arrington in Meriden, Mississippi. She attended Pleasant Grove School.

Missey loved to listen to music and dance. While enjoying dancing, listening to music and attending the USO Club in Meriden, she met the love of her life, Ernest Leon Molock who was stationed at the nearby Air Force Base. When Ernest, or Ernie, as Missey loved to call him, was shipped out for his tour of duty, Missey moved to Brooklyn, New York to work.

When Ernest returned from his tour of duty and could not find Missey, he searched until he found her in New York. They were married in 1949 and whenever possible Missey followed Ernest on his tours of duty. Those tours of duty carried Missey to places as far away as Seattle, Washington, Tacoma, Washington, Tripoli, Morocco (Africa), California, and for a period they resided at North Truro, Air Force Base near Cape Cod, Massachusetts becoming one of the first Black couples to integrate that community.

A veteran of World War II and the Korean War, Ernest faced housing discrimination in a number of cities in which he hoped to settle. The family settled in Wilmington, Delaware on North Pine Street, after seeking a home where an African American family could raise a family safely – with good schools and a strong sense of community. He found it on Wilmington’s Eastside, a thriving neighborhood filled with middle-class families and the sense of pride they were looking for.

Although Missey and Ernest had no children together, Ernest adopted Missey’s son Richard Earl Arrington (who lived with them for several years as a youth until enrolling in the army). They also raised Ernest’s sister’s (Mayme Molock Shields) daughter, Janis Darlene as their own, with hopes for adoption to complete their family.

Ernest and Missey enjoyed almost 60 years of wedded bliss before he passed away on November 1, 2007. During the last few years of his life, Ernest experienced several medical difficulties following a stroke, and Missey dedicated her life to providing the best care for him at home rather than placing him in a nursing home.

Missey held several different jobs and retired from Chandler’s Funeral Home in Wilmington, Delaware, after more than 20 years of dedicated service. She maintained a friendship with the family after her retirement and often attended their annual family Christmas gathering. But Missey always said her best and greatest job was providing a pleasant home for Ernie and their family. Missey really enjoyed entertaining and was the person who began an annual family reunion picnic for the Molock, Shields, Cornish and Height extended families which was held each summer usually in Lums Pond State Park in Bear, Delaware. This event was eagerly awaited by all, and family members traveled from all over the United States to attend. Missey would get up before dawn on the first workday after January 1st to reserve the pavilion for the picnic. She would spend months planning the event and assigning responsibilities. She performed these tasks until her late 90s.

Missey also loved to garden. Long before community gardens became an urban trend, Ernest and Missouri turned abandoned lots throughout their Eastside community into luscious vegetable gardens, filled with collard greens, tomatoes, cucumbers and even towering stalks of corn. Their gardens — one near the Al O Plant bridge off 11th Street, and two on McCaulley Street near Pine – turned abandoned, junk filled eyesores into lots filled with beauty and functionality. These efforts were twice featured in articles in the local News Journal newspaper focused on urban renewal efforts and garnered awards from the Delaware Center for Horticulture that Missey would proudly display.

Missey was a very sociable person and wherever she went she would engage in conversation. A person didn’t remain a stranger long when Missey was around. She and Ernie traveled to Atlantic City to walk the boardwalk and people watch. They also traveled with the church to Sight and Sound Theater in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to see shows. When Ernie passed, she would travel to many places with her niece Dorothea. They traveled to Tennessee, Michigan, South Carolina, and Massachusetts. Missey loved going out to eat at the Olive Garden, Golden Corral, and especially the Old Country Buffet, where chatted and developed relationships with all the staff. Missey also liked going to Delaware Park Casino and Racetrack, not so much to gamble as to eat ice cream and socialize with the staff. She regularly visited Delaware Park until the COVID pandemic dramatically limited her travels.

Missey also belonged to several organizations and was a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Ladies Auxiliary. One of her favorites was the former Moss-Robertson Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6687 Ladies Auxiliary, where she held several state and regional offices including, President of VFW Ladies Auxiliary Post 6687, Wilmington district president, and trustee of the Ladies Auxiliary. She was also a frequent supporter of the former Polish American VFW Post #3257 Ladies Auxiliary and Newark VFW Post 475 Ladies Auxiliary and loved to attend annual services and march in the Veterans and Memorial Day parades.

She was also a life member of the Wilmington Senior Center where she also volunteered, a life member of the National Association for Uniformed Services (NAUS) and a member of the Society of Military Widows (SMW).

In 1955, Ernie and Missey joined Ezion Methodist Church, fondly known as ‘Old Ezion’ in Wilmington, Delaware but left for a brief period when Ernie was re-assigned to a post in another state. They renewed their membership in 1963 when they returned to Wilmington and became faithful dues paying and active members of the church, which later merged to become Ezion-Mount Carmel United Methodist Church. The family even participated in the opening dedication ceremonies for its new church home on Walnut Street.

Even when Missey was unable to physically attend during the period of her husband’s illness, she maintained her dues and received regular communion from visiting deacons and returned to regular attendance following Ernest’s death. While attending Ezion, Missey participated in several church organizations including a birthday group that took dinners to homebound seniors on their birthdays. For a time, she also transported several seniors to church, even though she was older than some of them.

Missey’s beloved son, Richard Earl Arrington Molock of Wayne Michigan, passed away in April 2014 from cancer, and she deeply mourned his loss. A granddaughter, April Shelby, also predeceased her. Missouri leaves to mourn her loss and celebrate her life; her devoted daughter, Janis Darlene Shields of Wilmington Delaware, a stepson, Ernest John Gilgannon of Gloucestershire, England; two grandchildren, Richelle Gibson (Michael) of Inkster, Michigan, and Bryan Shields (Bethany) of Durham, North Carolina; a special niece, Dorothea Jordan, of Baltimore Maryland; six great-grandchildren in Michigan (Anthony, Demetrius, Dominic, John (Gloria), Angel, and Robin); two great-great-grandchildren in Michigan, (O’Zion Kirk and a special namesake, Gizelle Missouri); a great-grandchild in North Carolina, (Jade); and a host of nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews, cousins, and other family members and close friends. Missey was very proud of all the accomplishments of her family and loved to share their successes with everyone.