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It is with deep sorrow that Mr. Stephen Ford announces the death of his beloved mother, Mrs. Bernice Sullivan Ford, 96. Mrs. Ford entered into rest on Thursday, November 9, 2023. The Directors of Brown-Pennington-Atkins Funeral Home & Crematory are caring for the family. A funeral service to honor her life will be held at 2 o'clock on Monday, November 13, 2023, at Wesley United Methodist Church, with The Rev. Tony Adams officiating. The family will receive friends in the Fellowship Hall one hour prior to the service. Memorials may be made in her honor to Wesley United Methodist Church, 145 E. College Avenue, Hartsville, SC 29550, or the Darlington County Humane Society, P.O. Box 1655, Hartsville, SC 29551. Mrs. Ford was born on July 26, 1927, in Jefferson, SC. She was the daughter of the late William Duncan Sullivan and Mary Ella Kirkley Sullivan. The Sullivan family moved to Hartsville in 1938 with parents, six brothers, and one sister. Bernice graduated from Hartsville High School in 1944 and moved to Columbia to work at the Veterans Administration. She moved to Hartsville in 1960 and Joined Wesley United Methodist Church in the same year. She was very active in her church circle and her Sunday school class. She was also a long-time member of the Hartsville Pilot Club and a past president. She was a long-time volunteer at Byerly Hospital and Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center, where she served as President of the Auxillary Volunteers in 1993. Mother grew up on a farm; she taught me to love animals, and we always had a cat or dog. She loved the outdoors. Mother taught me to treat everyone equally, regardless of age or race. She never made anything but A's on her report cards from the 4th grade through High School and was in the National Honor Society. She loved those State Newspaper crossword puzzles. We also had a long tradition of watching Jeopardy together every night. In 1989, mom got a letter from the IRS telling her that her date of birth was wrong, so it was changed from the 27th to the 26th of July. Mom was a good cook and a great mother. She is survived by her loving son, Steve Ford of Hartsville, SC, and several cousins and wonderful friends. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her sister, Kathleen Sullivan Atwater; brothers, Clyde Sullivan, Basil Sullivan, Mavis Sullivan, Lenson Sullivan, Ross Sullivan, and Edward Claude Sullivan.

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Mrs. Bernice Sullivan Ford

July 26, 1927 - November 9, 2023