Alberta C. McCloud

December 3, 1926 ~ September 13, 2021

Ms. Alberta C. McCloud entered into eternal rest on the evening of Monday, September 13, 2021. She was born Alberta Givens on Thursday, December 3, 1925, in Millen, Georgia, and was raised in the Girard, Augusta, and Savannah areas. Ms. Alberta was the church mother of  Mt. Moriah Baptist Church in Port Orange, Florida.

As a child, Ms. Alberta attended Givens Grove Baptist Church in Sardis(Girard), Georgia. She visited Givens Grove annually for the church anniversary until she could no longer travel. Ms. Alberta is preceded in death by her father and mother, Lucious Givens and Elizabeth Jones-Givens, along with her siblings Sampson, Elly, Estelle, Riley, Lurene, Joe, Mary, and Tom. She will be reunited with her children who preceded her, Joe, Robert, Willie Charles Jr., Will Albert, and Norris. She is survived by her children, Betty Jean Cooper Gadson (Timothy), Jerome Cooper (Miriam), Freddie Cooper (Tammy), Virginia Cooper Moser, and Michael Martin (Phyllis), Pheenie Mae Myers (Daughter/Niece), as well as 40 Grandchildren/Flowers, 100 Great Grandchildren/Flowers, 40 Great-Great Grandchildren/Flowers.  Ms. Alberta leaves a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, children, and grandchildren that she accepted as her own and many friends.

After she moved to Florida, Ms. Alberta lived in Daytona Beach,  where she raised her children. She later met Dave Martin and moved to Port Orange in the 1950s, that's when her son Michael was born.  After the death of Mr. Martin, Ms. Alberta later married Nathaniel McCloud, a Navy veteran, entrepreneur, and pastor, and became stepmother to his children.  As the years went on she became "Mother" to both the church, and some say, the neighborhood itself. Her husband presided over the church as pastor.

This northeast area of Port Orange was actually known as Freemanville. Freemanville is known as the first African-American community in Volusia County.  It generally remains unknown, but once a year those who cherish the history gather in Mt. Moriah Baptist Church to celebrate this settlement from decades ago.   If you Google information about Freemanville/Port Orange you'd be amazed.

Alberta C. McCloud was a loving mother, grandmother, and friend. You could always go to her with your problems. She was a praying, faithful, and good Christian woman. One of her famous sayings was "keep on living."  If you wondered why she said that sometimes, something would happen, good or bad, along the way, and you'd understand what she meant when she said keep on living. Within that saying, there was a lesson.

Whenever a new child was born into the family, she'd say another flower for her garden. She would say, "my flowers just keep on blooming." Alberta was not just here for her children and grandchildren, she was here for everyone with whom she came in contact. If you needed food, she made sure you ate. If you needed shelter, she gave you a place to stay for a while. If you needed financial help, she gave you, as she called it," a piece of money."

You could ask her, Ms. Alberta, how have you lived so long? She would reply, "Being good to other people, Treating people kindly."

The care of Alberta C. McCloud has been entrusted to Lohman Funeral Home. Condolences for the family can be shared on the online guestbook at www.lohmanfuneralhomes.com