Viola Brown Blackburn

McCormick, SC – Pastor Viola Brown Blackburn, 83, went home to be with her Lord and Savior on Thursday, April 20, 2023, at McCormick Post Acute in McCormick, SC.

A funeral service will be 1:00 pm Friday, April 28, 2023, at Whitesell Funeral Home with the Bishop Robert M. Pickett, Sr. officiating.  Burial will follow at Laurelwood Cemetery.

Pastor Viola Blackburn was born on October 2, 1939, in Garnett, SC to the late Luther Beaufort and Wilhelmina Brown Washington.   She was the oldest child among her siblings.  Growing up, she attended Estill Training High School where she was a standout star basketball player.  She was a force to be reckoned with on the court and she was instrumental in helping her high school woman's basketball team win several championships.  She graduated from Estill Training High School in 1958.

Following high school, Pastor Blackburn left South Carolina and moved to Yonkers, New York where she married the late Ernest Housey.  To this union were born two daughters.

Later in her life, Pastor Blackburn rededicated her life to the Lord and joined Childs Memorial Temple Church of God in Christ in New York City and accepted the call of God to preach His Word.  She attended some bible schools such as Manhattan Bible Institute in New York City and Rhema Bible Training College in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Overtime, Pastor Blackburn felt the Lord leading her to leave Yonkers, New York and move to South Carolina which she eventually did.  In 1994, she, along with the faithful help of the late Pastor Freddie Wylie, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, established a church in Rock Hill, South Carolina name Higher Dimensions.  In 2017 Higher Dimension Church merged with Faith Christ Deliverance Church under Pastor Mary C. Barber.

Pastor Blackburn loved the Lord and it was evident in the way she preached and witnessed to people.  She loved to make people laugh and on occasion she was full of jokes.  She also loved to cook and entertain her family and friends.  She had an infectious smile that would brighten your day.  Pastor Viola Blackburn loved and was loved by her family and friends and she will be greatly missed.

Pastor Viola Blackburn departed this life early Thursday morning, April 20, 2023, at McCormick Post Acute in McCormick, SC from severe dementia.

She leaves to cherish her memory two daughters, Elzina Pickett (Bishop Robert) of Lords Valley, PA and Gwendolyn Housey of Hyde Park, NY; six grandchildren, Parris White of Blythewood, SC, Robert M Pickett, Jr. (Lucia) of Davie, FL, Letitia Carter (Wayne) of Danbury, CT, Christine C Pickett of Hagerstown, MD, LaTasha Smith (Royal) of Norwalk, Ct and Justin C Pickett (Michelle) of Waxhaw, NC; seven great-grandchildren, Quadir, Elijah, Caydence, Mikayla, Eliana, Robert III, and Olivia; six sisters and two brothers, Nora Baker of New York City, Minister Agnes Wyman (Deacon Carl) of New York City, Jacob Leon Washington (Maria-Lucia) of Bethlehem, PA, Marion Washington (Joyce) of Bronx, NY, Anne Frazier (Elder Thomas) of Catonsville, MD, Evamae Rucker of Pineland, SC, Deaconess Sarah Sinclair (Deacon Ronald)  of New Rochelle, NY, and Lillian Cassaberry (Norman) of Bronx, NY; and a host of uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, cousins and friends.

Whitesell Funeral Home is serving the family.