Anna R. McGill

Anna Ruth was born October 24,1941 in Durham, North Carolina to the late Logan Steppe and Naomi Covington, as Anna Ruth Mitchell. Growing up, Anna lived between Durham, North Carolina and Washington, D.C., but she was educated in the District of Columbia Public School System. At age 4, she moved to Washington, D.C., where she was raised by her late maternal aunt, Estelle Royal and Bishop Jesse Royal, who was the Bishop of Trinity Religious Temple Church. In this regard, she was a preacher’s kid. She was a devoted member, who loved the Lord and accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior at a young age. Growing up in the church, Anna enjoyed attending church events and participating in ministries including the usher board, anniversary ministries and the church choir, where she loved singing and worshiping through song. There was not a hymn she didn’t know. She also took piano lessons as a young child, but you’d be surprised to know, Anna was held in high regard as a tambourine player. You would watch her in amazement as she played the tambourine and sung lead in the choir at Trinity Religious Temple Church. While visiting Durham, North Carolina, Anna met and fell in love with Ernest (Sam) Terrell. They married in 1958 and from their union, they had seven children: Beverly, Ronda, Ernest, Paul, Renee, Sheila and Tammy. As an adult, Anna joined and was an active member of Central Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. She later joined Kettering Baptist Church where she was a member of the Usher Ministry, and she participated in Women’s Day Choir. After her divorce, she later met and married the late Jimmy McGill in 1987. If you knew Anna, there were two things that was important to her, her family and providing for her family. Anna loved her children and spent her life supporting her children and grandchildren in every way possible. She even raised three of her grandchildren, Felicia, Symphonyand Demetrius. She was the strength of her family through all of the ups and downs. She was the definition of the word Remarkable! She was not your average 81-year-old, as she exuded a steadfastness to take care of her family, work hard, and have fun. Anna began working at the age of 17 as an elevator operator in Durham, North Carolina. After which, she worked at People’s Drug Store before spending over 20 years in the Dry-Cleaning Industry. Anna was an active full time Pharmacy Technician at KayCee Pharmaceuticals and had been for the last 25+ years with very little discussion of retirement. There was even a time when Anna Ruth worked two jobs simultaneously. She once said, “Never depend on a man or others to take care of you” and she certainly lived by this principle as she was still working 40 hours per week up until her passing at the age of 81. Anna loved spending time with her family, and she especially enjoyed family pop-up fellowships and holiday sleepovers. The family always expected her to make her famous Chicken and Dumplings, Stuffing and her infamous 7 Up Pound Cake, amongst other food favorites. She loved playing games, singing karaoke and there wasn’t a dance floor she was afraid to step on. She was reserved, yet outgoing; she was quiet, yet heard; and she was shy, yet seen. Anna shared stories of sitting on her mother’s porch drinking coffee when she visited her mother in Durham, North Carolina. This was a fond memory of hers. Anna loved coffee. Inspired by this memory of her mother, in the early 2000s, Anna along with some of her daughters and grandchild, Marlana Kelly, formed “The Coffee Club”. The Coffee Club initially was a time to get together, drink coffee and talk. Eventually The Coffee Club would plan annual trips to Atlantic City, as Anna enjoyed traveling places and going to the hotels, casinos, and resorts. Anna was the oldest child of her mother. Her siblings Mark and Johnnie-Jean Covington proceeded her in death. She leaves to mourn her sister Sharon Covington, of Washington DC, Jimmy Royal, the son of Bishop and Estelle Royal, who Anna considered a brother of Fort Washington, MD. During Covid 2021, conversations with her daughter led to a search for her paternal siblings. As Ancestry.com, Facebook and other social means would have it, Anna was able to unite with her sisters Nancy Steppe-France of Owings Mills, MD and Cecelia Steppe-Jones of Burlington, NC. The sisters were able to meet over zoom, and eventually Anna and her sister Nancy met in person. Oh, what a day of celebration and joy this brought to Anna. She and her sisters kept in touch over the past few years and the connection was joyous and special! The legacy of her life will live in children and grandchildren. Preceding her in death, her husband, Jimmy McGill, her daughter Beverly Ann Terrell, son, Paul Terrell, and 1stgrandson, Anwar Wilson. She leaves to cherish her children: Ronda Terrell-Carroll, Ernest Terrell, Renee Terrell, Sheila Terrell, and Tammy Bailey (Brian). Grandchildren; Bianca Wilson, Marlana Kelly, ShaShanna Moody Terrell, Tami Anderson, Felicia Terrell (Siobhan), John Williams, Moriah Moody Terrell, Jamar Williams, Brian Booker (Tatiana), DeAnn Lawrence, Vaness Borden, Symphony Terrell, and Dymetrius Terrell. Great grandchildren; Nivea Richburg, James Richburg III, Amari Davy-Wilson, Myira Anderson, Anwar Wilson, Jordan Wiliams, Isaiah Williams, Brain Booker III, ZuriBooker, Isaiah Holmes, Trinity Holmes, Zamarri Jackson, Zamira Jackson, Bella Gabriel, a great great grandson;Saint Truesdale, Two special nieces Jannie and Sharon Sidney, a beloved Nephew Ronnie Terrell and a host of other family and friends.

Tributes

Anna R. McGill

October 24, 1941 - June 4, 2023