Born on July 8, 1953, Gertrude Copeland was the 4th child of the late Elijah and Emma

Louise Copeland. Gertrude was an outgoing little girl who visited all over Jackson and

made friends with many of them throughout her life. She loved talking, laughing, and

being around people from all walks of life. At an early age, she accepted Jesus as her

Savior and was baptized at Home Missionary Baptist Church, where she developed an

early understanding of Christian life. She participated in all aspects of her church as a

youth and as an adult. At Home Baptist, Ms. Rosa noticed her God-given speaking

abilities.

Gertrude attended Jackson City Schools and was a member of the first graduating class of

Jackson Central-Merry High, the Class of 1971, where she played basketball. She

continued her education at Lane College. There, she began her love for working with

children. She began that career with the Jackson Recreation Department and the Lane

College National Youth Sports Program, working for over thirty (30) years and touching

the lives of many young men and women from all over West Tennessee. She had a

special love for each of them, and they all knew it. In 1975, she graduated from Lane

College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Health and Physical Education. She then

began her teaching career, which spanned over fifty (50) years, not only touching the

lives of her students, but she also worked as Youth Directress in her church and the

Tennessee BM&E convention, working with her children, as she called them, to develop

their various God-given gifts and talents.

Gertrude was a Delta Dear of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., a member of the Lane

College Alumni Association, where she is the 2026 Alumnus of the Year, and a proud

member of the Society for African American Cultural Awareness (SAACA). Gertrude

leaves a legacy of love, compassion, selfless sacrifice, and a Firecracker Spark that will

live with all of us for the rest of our lives.

Gertrude’s two oldest siblings, Evelyn and Atiyah, and nephews, Kareem and Ali,

preceded her in death. She leaves to honor and cherish her memory her only child,

Copeland Elijah White, Jackson, TN; one brother, Wm. Terry (Deborah) Copeland,

Nashville, TN; and three sisters, Phyllis (Duane) Farmer, Hopewell, VA; Maxine Harris,

Jackson, TN; and Shelia (Jeffrey) Smith, Denver, CO. The apples of her eye, her nieces

and nephews, C. Victor, Michael, TaWanda, Terrence (Lawanda), Candice, Chere’, Ashley (Jerrell), Brittany

Jaleela, and Jeffrey; great-nieces and nephews, Victoria, Carl (Gabrielle), Carlton

(Jasmine), Carlson, Valencia (Jabari), Rashad (Pamela), Kalen, Kelsei, Londyn, Elijah,

Emmanuel, and Khylie; and great-great nieces and nephews, Makaila, Trey, Aubrey, A’Miya, Zoee’, and Paizlei.