Earlie Mae Rich, consummate hostess

IF YOU WERE lucky enough to be a friend or family member of Earlie Mae Rich, you were advised to take a hearty appetite to her home.

"It was like a restaurant," said her sister Thelma Greene. "She had a big table in the dining room, and people would sit around it and they could have just about anything they wanted to eat.

"She always kept plenty of food on hand, and she just loved to cook and feed people. One of her sisters said her house looked like a warehouse."

Earlie Mae, who came to Philadelphia from Alabama in 1945 and did domestic work for years, and who was active churchwoman and much-honored member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, died July 10. She was 90 and lived in Nicetown.

She was born in Dothan, Ala., to Early and Ella McCarty Lewis. She brought much of her cooking talent from the culinary traditions of the Deep South.

Needless to say, Earlie Mae was popular in her neighborhood, especially with children.

"She loved kids," her sister said. "She was always giving them treats. She talked to them like adults and they appreciated that."

Earlie Mae also enjoyed being the hostess at cookouts. In fact, even though her health was beginning to fail, she held her last barbecue in May, presiding at the grill and producing the sizzling meats for an enthusiastic group of guests and family.

"She was the consummate hostess," her sister said. "She loved people and would do anything for them. Her home was the gathering place."

Holidays were special to her, and she would prepare feasts for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Her cakes were a family legend.

She also couldn't stand to see even strangers go hungry, and would give food to the needy as well as her family and friends.

"She was a natural-born cook," her sister said.

Earlie Mae lost two children in infancy, but, perhaps to make up for her losses, she became the surrogate mother to all the kids in her neighborhood, where she lived for more than 60 years.

"She would walk the streets and the kids would flock to her," her sister said.

Earlie Mae was an active member of Zion Baptist Church, beginning when the legendary Rev. Leon Sullivan was pastor. She was always available for whatever the church needed doing.

Earlie Mae was also a loyal member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the VFW. Her late husband, Walter Rich, was a Navy veteran of World War II. She had plaques commending her for her service "above and beyond the call of duty."

And she was recently honored by Philadelphia City Council, which adopted a resolution hailing her services to the community.

"She had beautiful, wonderful friends," her sister said. "They were drawn to her because she had a kind heart. She could be outspoken, but she was very giving. She was strong-willed, but she would give you anything."

"She was so energetic," her sister said. "Imagine a preteen in a senior citizen's body."

Besides her sister, Earlie Mae is survived by another sister, Mary Lewis, and a brother, Larry Lewis.

Services: Were Monday. Burial was in Rolling Green Memorial Park, West Chester.