Louise Dolphin Sidney

The world received the sweetest gift when Louise Dolphin was born to Ardell Dolphin (deceased) and Lucile Derrick (deceased) in Houston, TX on September 1, 1940. Her grandmother, Mama Etta Richards (deceased), passed on a precedent of transparency and honesty rooted in truth only found in the Bible which provided the foundation of a fruitful life lived. Her mother Lucile, who was larger than life, showed her how to live in the tension of truth and love with acts of service that generally ended with loving people unconditionally. Her husband Edward Sidney (deceased) often remarked that he married her because she was just so nice. Whether she put toothpaste on his toothbrush every morning for him (at least in the beginning) or always had a Sunday meal cooked before church she chose to serve him in many ways.

Her three children Ricky, Kim Yvonne & Gary, although very different, received the abundance of her love in action, words and deeds. Not withholding herself from those she chose to love was a practice she honed for decades. You did not have to agree with Louise, apply the wisdom she often shared or prove your worth to her for her to be loving or generous with her time, money and resources.

Although she leaves a handful of grandchildren, Bryan Anthony Theard, Rachel Thompson (Joseph), Edward Sidney (Yolanda), Jeremiah Hatton (Fressia), Jill Bingham (Patrick) and a small army of great grandchildren, her legacy that remains is magnanimous. She exemplified how to live a God-honoring, integrated life that multiplied her family to include her church body, co-workers, neighbors, friends and anyone she came into contact with. Through discipline and self-sacrifice she was faithful in simple tasks like prayer, Bible study and applying the word of God, along with radical stewardship. And because she invested in herself it provided an overflowing well to invest in so many others. She was a woman of depth, a woman of many virtues because God ordered her steps and she responded.