Henrietta Lee Bragg's Obituary
Henrietta Lee Patton was born on March 10, 1930, in Berkeley, California to parents John H. and Beulah V. Patton. She passed away peacefully on January 11, 2017. She was 86.
Henrietta was a member of the McGee Avenue Baptist Church in Berkeley and baptized there as a child on Easter Sunday when the church was known as Mount Pleasant Baptist Church. She also frequently attended Beth Eden Baptist Church in Oakland where her father John was a faithful deacon. Henrietta attended Lincoln, Burbank Jr. High, and BHS graduating in 1947.
Affectionately referred to as “Henri,” or “Hen” by family and friends, Henrietta was an inquisitive and charming child; the third of five siblings who was the younger sister to brother Edgar and sister Anita, and the next big sister to brothers Eugene and John (Jackie). She’d often share delightful stories of her parents, family, friends, teachers, and Sunday school with vivid recollection, warmth, and good humor despite the Great Depression, World War II, and Pearl Harbor taking place around her at the time. It was always fascinating hearing her describe normal everyday life in the 1930s and then imagining the experience of buying a live chicken for Sunday dinner, taking streetcars downtown, seeing men always dapper, and viewing vast sections of the Bay Area entirely undeveloped and void of freeways. Her grandmother, Eliza Horn, was someone she fondly described great detail from her petite stature, to her wit, to her devotion to her daughter Beulah. “Henny-Penny” was Mother Horn’s affectionate name for Henrietta, and their excursions by ferry to visit “Uncle Dez” in SF’s Chinatown, and the long drives with her father to the central valley to buy fruit and other produce, or the many times she’d assist her mother at work, helped form the very essence of her beautiful personality and wise perspective, many would later come to know and love.
As a young adult, Henrietta was fascinated with fashion design and business and enrolled in San Francisco State University and Merritt Business School. Soon, her focus centered on life as wife and mother. Henrietta and her husband Edward and children would live in Loraine, Ohio from 1954 and 1958, before returning to Berkeley in the early 1960s. Henrietta’s children are: Mona Lee Taylor, Shelley Louise Bragg, who preceded her in death, Gerald Edward Bragg, and Lori Ann Shepherd.
Henrietta began working for the Selective Service System and remained there from approximately 1966 – 1975. She experienced up close the turbulent and changing political climate sparked by the Vietnam War and the conscientious objectors, the Black Power Movement and sometimes the protests these events brought to the Selective Service office. Somehow she managed to traverse this rocky terrain with understanding, beauty, grace, and always in high heels! Eventually, Henrietta transferred to the Oakland Army Base’s Safety and Security department until retiring in 1995. She received numerous awards during her entire work career, which lauded her work ethic and excellence. She also acquired treasured friendships that endured for the remainder of her life. Henrietta’s last employment was working part-time for the Shepherd Law Group in Oakland, from approximately 2004-2007.
During her life, Henrietta served in various capacities at McGee including church clerk, a member of the Busy Bee and Adele Thompson circles, and as a mission board member. Her civic contributions included forming her neighborhood’s very first Neighborhood Watch Committee, where she hosted regular meetings for neighbors to help keep streets and homes protected.
Aside from Henrietta being a devoted, loving and incredibly supportive mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and an admiring aunt, she was also a trusted friend to many. Although her 3 brothers and sister preceded her in death, and most of her closest childhood friends, she spent her recent years enjoying family events, attending church, and sharing her opinions about the politics of the day. More than anything she cherished going to San Francisco, visiting museums, listening to Jazz and attending theatrical performances, and being outdoors on warm sunny days. Although she often said, “I don’t get around much anymore,” the fact is, just last Spring and Summer Henrietta got around to the very places she loved most including visiting an art exhibit at the de Young Museum with Mona; attending a Jazz performance at Yoshi’s with Gerald, and enjoying the Pacific Ocean at San Gregorio Beach with Lori.
Whether you called her Mom, Grandma, Grandmommy, Great-grand mom, Aunt Henrietta, Hen, Henri, or Sister “Braggs” she was someone we won’t ever forget. With her passing, Henrietta rejoins the family and friends who were the foundation for her early life thus ending one chapter and beginning a reunion we can only imagine taking place as we honor her today, not to mention an enduring legacy that lives in each of her children, and theirs.
What’s your fondest memory of Henrietta?
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Share a story where Henrietta's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Henrietta you’ll never forget.
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