Mrs. Lillie Macie Rush McInnis, 92, of 615 Rippling Stream Road, Durham, died peacefully on Thursday, August 8, 2013.

Her service will be conducted 12 p.m. on Thursday, August 15, 2013 at St Mark AME Zion Church, 531 S. Roxboro St. Interment will follow in Markham Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends on Thursday from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the church one hour prior to the service.

Lillie was born on March 30, 1921 in Norwood, NC, the ninth child of Lina Pankey and Alonzo Rush. She was married to John Henry McInnis who died in 2002. She is survived by her daughter, Delores McInnis Jenkins, her son, John Darrell McInnis, two grandchildren, Ebony Angelique Jenkins and Edward Adonis Jenkins, son in law Christopher Putney and sister, Cumilla Payne.

Lillie matriculated at Fayetteville State Teachers College in Fayetteville, where she earned a bachelor's degree in 1944. She later earned a master's degree from A&T State College in Greensboro. Lillie began her career as a teacher in Norwood in 1945. She met John Henry that same year and they were married in1946. To this union two children were born. In 1961, the family moved to Rockingham, where they made many lifelong friends. Lillie taught 8th grade science and math at Leak Street High School; in 1969, she was transferred to Rockingham High School, following the United States Supreme Court decision that required mandatory desegregation of public schools. That same year, John Henry accepted a position as principal of Grady Brown Elementary School in Hillsborough. In 1970, the family moved to Hillsborough. Lillie joined the faculty at Stanford Junior High School in Hillsborough, where she taught earth science in the gifted and talented program. While continuing to work in Hillsborough, Lillie and John Henry eventually moved to Durham. John Henry retired in 1980, and in 1983, Lillie retired from her position at Stanford Junior High, after 38 years of teaching. Lillie loved teaching.

Throughout her career, she continued to take college classes to advance her teaching skills. She placed enormous value on education, convinced that it is the key to success. She instilled this powerful love of learning in her children and her students.

Lillie will be remembered with great fondness by all who knew her and loved her. She will be especially remembered for her wonderful sense of humor and quick wit, her kindness and compassion, her great intellect, her dedication to justice and intolerance of injustice, her always-shrewd insights, and her absolute love of life. As testament to her extraordinary character, Lillie had many friends of all ages and from all walks of life, and she was surrounded by friends and family right up to the time of her death. Above all, Lillie will be remembered by her family as a wonderful mother, a mother who provided constant love and support to her children and grandchildren as they progressed on their own journeys through life. She was a unique and unforgettable lady, and we missed her terribly.

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