Maggie Lee (Hunter) Rhymer

Maggie Lee Hunter Rhymer, 83, of New York, passed away on Thursday, May 23, 2024, at The New Jewish Home in Manhattan, NY.

The family....

Maggie Lee Hunter Rhymer of New York, NY was born December 19, 1940, in Union, SC. She is preceded in death by her mother Rhodia Hunter and two brothers, Luther Hunter, 1993, and Clarence Hunter, 2020, one grandson, Jeffrey Ellis, 2017.

Maggie attended the Union County public schools and graduated from Sims High School in 1960. She had big dreams of leaving her hometown after graduation and decided to go north, all the way to New York City. She wanted to pursue better job opportunities, as jobs were very limited to African American women in the south.

Maggie moved to the village of Harlem, NY in 1960, and worked as a domestic worker for several years. Through the years, Maggie worked different types of jobs, until she accepted a job with the State of New York, at Manhattan Psychiatric Hospital on Ward's Island. She was employed as a Mental Health Therapy Aide and worked with patients with various disabilities. She really enjoyed her job because she had a caring heart, and an overwhelming desire for helping people. Maggie later retired after 24 years of service as an M.H.T.A and received several awards for her work over the years at the hospital.

Maggie wanted more…

Maggie loved the Lord and yearned to become closer to our heavenly Father. In the early 1970’s a wave of Pentecostal and Apostolic ministries was moving throughout the United States, especially in New York City. Maggie listened to one Evangelist on the radio by the name of Rev. R. W. Shambach. Who announced that he was coming to the South Bronx with his big-like circus tent. Maggie was eager to see who this preacher was who preached salvation and deliverance. Maggie and Malinda, who was six years old at the time, witnessed the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on souls. People came from all over the New York City area to hear the preaching, witness healing, and people receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost speaking with other tongues as the spirit gives utterance. Maggie desired a church home who believed in saving souls as she had witnessed under Shambach ministries.

Maggie’s prayers were answered…

In the spring of 1972, Maggie and her daughter Malinda were invited to The Greater Refuge Temple Church in Harlem, New York. The Pastor was the Late Bishop William Lee Bonner. This was the church that had a well-known radio program which aired on Sunday nights. The temple had a saying “the church that is in the heart of the city with the people of the city in its heart.” This was the church that Maggie had prayed for, and wanted to attend because it had the same shared belief in the Apostolic holy ghost power, that she had witnessed with RW Schambach ministries. Maggie was baptized in water in Jesus Name, and in 1973 received the precious gift of the Holy Ghost speaking in other tongues. She took Newcomer’s and bible classes, and eventually joined the Greater Refuge Temple Women’s Usher Board In 1973. Maggie became President of the Usher Board for 2 years in 1982. She served faithfully, and actively for over 40 years in this ministry. Maggie was called to usher and wore her uniform proudly and served the Lord and her church well over the years.

Besides her family and her church, Maggie always wanted to travel since she was a little girl in South Carolina. The Lord blessed Maggie, and the Lord answered another prayer which was for her to travel with her church to annual conventions from coast to coast, the south, and to Canada. Maggie traveled to many conventions over forty years. The Lord has certainly blessed Maggie to fellowship with many other members over the years with the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic faith or affectionately known as COOLJC by its members. Maggie has also sailed on several gospel cruises as well. She loved any trip that had the Lord in it. She was blessed with the opportunity to travel to the Holy Land, and into Egypt in 1998 with her church, GRT. Maggie toured the Holy land for ten days and marveled at the many historical sites where Jesus lived, walked, and ministered to the masses.

Maggie was an incredible and loving mother, sister, and friend to many. She was a dedicated, and committed Usher to her church, and servant to the Body of Christ.

Maggie leaves the following loved ones to cherish her memories: Two daughters, Sherry Ellis (Haywood) of Denver, NC, Malinda Rhymer of The Bronx, NY, two grandsons, Jason Rhymer of The Bronx, NY, Haywood Christopher Ellis, of Denver, NC., one great granddaughter, Jenyla Ellis of Charlotte, NC, one sister, Alma Edwards of Union, SC, one nephew, Troy Edwards, one great-nephew, Jerjuan Edwards of Charlotte, NC.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Community Mortuary, Inc., 361 Meansville Road, Union, SC. 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Maggie Lee (Hunter) Rhymer, please visit our floral store.