Vanessa Lynette Bright

Mrs. Vanessa Lynette Bright, 66, of Miramar, Florida formerly of Martin died Sunday, January 17, 2021.

Services will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, January 29, 2021, at Fuller Street Baptist Church. Visitation will begin at 1 p.m. until time of service on Friday at the church.

Interment will take place on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at Oakview Memorial Park in Alamo, Tennessee.

Mrs. Vanessa Lynette Simmons Bright was born on December 21, 1954 in Humboldt, Tennessee to Burnell W. Simmons Sr. and Lula Mae Cole Simmons. She was educated at Central High School and Alamo High School in Crockett County, Tennessee and graduated in 1972. She furthered her education by receiving a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1975 and a master’s degree from the University of Tennessee at Martin in 1977.

She was a member of Fuller Street Baptist Church in Dresden, Tennessee and attended Christ the Rock Community Church in Cooper City, Florida during the last years of her life. She was a seeker and servant of God who stood on faith until the end. She enjoyed worship, taught Sunday school, was a church organist, and leader of church Black history activities. She tuned into church online when she couldn’t make it in person. She applied the biblical lessons that she studied to her life. Her life was a spectacular sermon.

She was a devoted wife to her husband Phillip, an exceptional mother to her children Marcia, Marcus, and Marlon, and a fantastic grandmother to her grandchildren Lillian, Maxwell, Marcus Al, and Langston.  She was the Matriarch of the family and was a consistent source of love, assurance, support, stability, and compassion.

She worked as a teacher and speech therapist for 41 years and emphasized the value of education to her family and all who surrounded her. She was intelligent, charismatic, thoughtful, generous, sincere, and relentlessly positive. She made the best of any situation. She would find joy during tests and trials and find humor in any predicament. She used faith and optimism to override adversity. She had the uncanny ability to bring a smile to people’s faces and make everyone laugh over and over again.

She was a political enthusiast and loved watching sports. She loved to cook and be with her family. She planned family reunions, made family scrapbooks, and was an archiver of family history. She was a chief organizer of family, friends, and community.

She made a remarkable difference in the lives of an untold number of people in the way that she served and cared for others. She was deeply loved and she loved deeply. She gave us the incredible gift of unconditional love. She was a champion who never gave up.

Mrs. Bright is preceded in death by her parents, her brother-in-law Dr. Luther Kindall, and her infant grandson, Marlon Bright Jr. She leaves to cherish her memory her husband James Phillip Bright of Miramar, Florida, daughter Dr. Marcia Parker of St. Petersburg, FL, sons Dr. Marcus Bright of Miami, Florida and Marlon Bright (Kimberly) of West Des Moines, Iowa. Brother Burnell Simmons Jr. (Karen) of Creve Coeur, Missouri, sisters Dr. Alpha Kindall of Farragut, Tennessee, Brenda Simmons of Smyrna, Georgia, and Elaine Coats of Memphis, Tennessee. Grandchildren Lillian, Maxwell, Marcus Al and Langston, and a host of cousins, nieces, nephews, and other relatives and friends.

Rawls Funeral Home - Union City 731-885-8110