Ozell Flake

Ozell Flake, 95, died Wednesday, January 13, 2021, at Cedar Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.

She was born to the late Archie and Mary Bauswell, a farmer and housewife respectively, in Cooksville, Mississippi on October 27, 1925. She lived in Cooksville up until her teenage years when she moved to St. Louis, Missouri. She graduated from Vashon Senior High School in 1943.

Ozell shared a love for sewing with her mother. After graduating, she worked as a seamstress at Forest Hill Manufacturing. Her lifelong passions were sewing and cooking.

In 1946, she met Columbus Flake Jr. After three years of courting, they joined hands in Holy Matrimony on October 26, 1949. To this union a son, Myron Flake; and daughter, Brenda Flake was born.

In 1951, they welcomed their first-born child, Myron Flake, on December 9th. In 1956, Ozell and Columbus moved to Los Angeles, California. One year later on July 26, 1957, their daughter, Brenda, was born.

In 1961, Ozell went on to continue her seamstress career with Harrison & Frank Department Store. She tailored Botany 500 suits for many gameshow host celebrities. She retired after 33 years in 1992, the year her granddaughter Remy Anika Evette Strawder was born.

In 1974 Ozell joined First African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church under Reverend K. Melvin Taylor. She was a faithful servant of God and the Church. She was a member of the Lay Council, Missionary Society, Usher, and Deaconess boards. She was also a beloved Class Leader.

Ozell was an honorable woman that walked with God all her life. Her kindness and love has fulfilled the hearts of so many people. She'll always be remembered as a woman with a sweet soul.

She leaves to cherish her memories her son, Myron Flake; daughter, Brenda Flake; grandsons, Sean Flake and wife Kristina, Kyle Flake and husband Geoff Clark; granddaughter, Remy Strawder-Johnson and husband Yaw Marcus Johnson; great-granddaughters, Keiara Scranton, Jordan Flake, and Jizelle Flake; great-grandsons, Julian Flake and Jagger Flake; nieces, Carol Lyles, Joyce Henderson, Nikki Shockey; nephew, Ferando Webb and a host of family and friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Columbus Flake Jr. in 2010; sister Clariell Webb-McDuffie in 2011; grandson Clarence Scranton in 1994; sister-in-law Lela Marcella Grady in 2019; and daughter-in-law Lisa Flake in 2013.