Jeraldine Napoleon

Mrs. Jeraldine S. Napoleon was born on July 9, 1934 to the Union of the late Mary Grace Prince and late Rev. Harold Sampson, Sr. in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was educated at Joseph A. Craig Elementary and Joseph S. Clark High School. She was a proud 1956 graduate of Xavier University in Elementary Education and later received a Masters’ Degree +30 in Education from the University of New Orleans. Jeraldine greatest passion was teaching. She taught with dignity and pride for over 40 years. She gave her best to children at Robert R. Moton, Edna Karr, Andrew J. Bell, William J. Fisher, Sylvain Learning Center, and for over 25 years at James Weldon Johnson Elementary School. Even when She was accepted into the ‘Principal Pool’, she refused to leave the classroom because she believed that her teaching was “a calling from GOD’. In her limited spare time, Jeraldine was a founding member of the “Jays”, a fellowship and charitable organization. At the age of 7, Jeraldine was baptized (and later married to the late Edgar Napoleon) by the late Rev. Frank L. Johnson at the Israel Baptist Church. After briefly serving at Sixth Union and Nazarene Baptist churches under the late Rev. Cager Lee and The Tulane Avenue Baptist Church under the leadership of the late Rev. K. Alfred Sloan, Jeraldine spent nearly 40 at the Nazareth Baptist Church under the leadership of the late Rev. Clarence Gilbert and her son, Rev. Marc a. Napoleon, Sr. Jeraldine previous served as Chaplain of the Nazareth Baptist Church choir, Director of the Vacation Bible School, and was a member of the First District Missionary Baptist Association and the Cornerstone Missionary Baptist General Association choirs. She also loved decorating the fellowship hall assisted by Sis. Germayne Turner Nash and Sis. Angela Turner. Jeraldine was an avid reader. She loved the Holy Bible the writing Max Lucado, Tony Evans, and her Daily Bread. She would often 1 of her 3 favorite poems at any time, ‘A Psalm of Life’, ‘What I Live For’, and “If”. In later years she limited her television watching to westerns, Perry Mason and the Word network especially re-runs of the late Bishop G. E. Patterson. Jeraldine was reared in a very close-knit family and had many cherished friends. She never fully emotionally recovered from the passing of her loved-ones and would often tell stories about their lives for posterity’s sake. They include her parents, Grandparents George and Virgie Prince, Gilbert and Georgiana Sampson, Brother Harold Sampson, Jr. Aunt Olivia Turner, Aunt and Godmother Julia Prince Jones, Great Aunts Addie Bush, Olivia Starworld, and Pearl Word. She also had some very, very close friends to predecease her including Thais Moss West, Jean Gibson Julien Newson, and Alvin Washington. In the early morning hours of November 29, 2018 Jeraldine heeded call from heaven and was received into the arms of her Savior after battling a series of illness for the last 2 years. She leaves with many precious memories 2 Sons: David F., and Rev. Marc A.(Eloyn); 3 Grandchildren: Angelle Alexis, Mary Dianne, and Marc A. Jr., 3 Sisters Shirley Bienemy, Desmonia Jeanpierre, and Carol Smith: Devoted Godchild Danon Smith: Long time friends Elvia James and Jerry Mae Stratton. Spiritual Mother and Aunt to Loraine Patin and Johanne West Bartholemy: and a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. Relatives and friends of the family are invited to attend the Funeral Service at Greater Pleasant Green Baptist Church, 3421 S. Claiborne Ave. on Saturday, December 8, 2018 at 10:00 am; Visitation will begin at 9:00 am; Interment: Resthaven Cemetery; Arrangements by DW Rhodes Funeral Home, 3933 Washington Ave.; Please visit www.rhodesfuneral.com to sign the guest book.