Emma M. Carlisle

On Saturday, May 7, 2022, Emma Marie Carlisle, loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt, and niece was called home to enjoy eternal rest with our Heavenly Father. Emma M. Carlisle was born on March 19, 1938, to the late Jimmie James Ruffin and Annie Mildred Small-Ruffin in Plymouth, North Carolina. In addition to her parents, she was also predeceased by her husband, James Isaac Carlisle, and her brothers, Jimmie James Ruffin, Jr., Ralph Waldo Ruffin, and Robert Lewis Ruffin. She had eleven other siblings,  Albert Ruffin (Jeanette), Gwendolyn Mitchell (Gregory), Cora Lee Ruffin, Willie (Jean), Clinton Ruffin (Ann), Donald Ruffin (Mary), Carol Horton (Larry), Joyce Whitehurst (Jake), Calvin Ruffin (Annie), Tassie Jones (James) Shelly Denise Jester. 

Emma Marie and James Isaac Carlisle had four biological children, James Darren Carlisle, Kelvin Wayne Carlisle (Claudia), Karen Deneen Carlisle, and Maurice Carlisle and they adopted two other children, who were siblings, James, and Jerry Sanders. She had eleven grandchildren, Jacquetta Blackmon, Sherrell Deneen Bradshaw, Terrell Maurice Bradshaw, Lisa Nicole Carlisle, Ashley A Carlisle, Takira Shamir Smith, A'nayzja Sanders, Ju'Dah Sanders, Gabriella Sanders, Genesis Sinai Stokes, Jerry Sanders, Jr., and six great-grandchildren, Nevaeh Marie Barlow, Najai Deneen Barlow, Nariah Deneen Barlow, Izaiah Narii Barlow, Jeremiah Campbell, Ayanna Benie Zola. She also had countless nieces and nephews who also loved her dearly. 

Emma M. Carlisle was a generous and caring person and it showed in the work she chose to do for a living. After working for years at Ideal Corporation she decided she would rather take care of people instead of working on car parts in a factory. She eventually started her own childcare business and at the same time become a foster care parent. She welcomed many children into her home and cared for them and loved them as her very own. She decided to officially adopt two of her foster children and they became a welcomed part of our family. As she moved from the New York area to Virginia, she decided to start caring for adults and became a Home Health Aide at Tender Care Healthcare Services. She did this until she retired. However, she was not done caring for others.

Emma M. Carlisle has been a loyal member of Antioch Baptist Church since she moved to Virginia in the 1990s with her three youngest children. She eventually became an Usher there and served her role with excellence. She enjoyed being an Usher because it again allowed her to be the caring loving person that her character is built on. She will be sorely missed by all those that got to know her and truly by the family who will never forget her full-time love and concern for all of us.
 

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