We post this update in honor of Mangie McQueen’s last living daughter, Clotelle McQueen Fisher, on what would have been her 92nd birthday.  We love and miss you Mo.

On December 19, 2022, the McQueen family lost its matriarch, Clotelle McQueen Fisher, 91, after a courageous years-long fight against the illnesses that accompany old age.

Clotelle, our mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, great-aunt, neighbor or simply friend, remained stoic and steadfast in her steering of the McQueen family until drawing her last breath.

Fortunately for her family, Clotelle, never knew the meaning of the word no.  She forged ahead after graduating from West Charlotte High School in 1948 to attend and graduate in 1953 with a Trade Diploma from Hampton Institute where she met her husband Stanley C. Fisher.  Clotelle continued her education at Barber Scotia College from which she graduated in 1957 with a B.S. degree and later was among the first black students to integrate Penn State University where she graduated with a Masters in Education in Occupational Economics.  Ever the trailblazer, Clotelle was among the first female instructors to teach driver’s education in Charlotte.  She devoted herself to a career in education, working at West Charlotte High School, Second Ward High School and Garinger, among other Charlotte area educational institutions.  As she neared retirement age, determined to keep her mind active and eager to remain part of a larger community, she began working in the circulation department of The Charlotte Observer.

The game of bridge and later in life a bingo card were her favorite pastimes, the latter of which she enjoyed often in the company of her younger sister Sarah McQueen Johnson. She cooked any dish with ease and had a stern hand in helping to raise every McQueen generation that followed.  She enjoyed sewing and was expert at altering clothing for family and friends.

Born on February 4, 1931 in McBee, South Carolina to Mangie and Catherine McQueen, Clotelle lived a life without definition, always persevering, always striving, always seeking knowledge in a quest to impact the lives of her family and the greater community.

Clotelle was predeceased by her loving mother and father, Mangie and Catherine McQueen, an older sister, Dorothy McQueen Morgan (John), younger sister, Sarah McQueen Johnson and her husband Stanley C. Fisher.  Left to live on in the long shadow of her memory are her three daughters, Fayon Fisher Thompson (late Reginald Thompson), Dorothy Fisher Graves (Ennis) and Deborah Fisher Herndon (late John Herndon). In addition, Clotelle is survived by her grandchildren, Tea Graves Previn (Matthew), Ennis Edward Graves Jr., Derrick Addison Thompson (Jennifer), Tiffany Marie Herndon, Erica Michelle Herndon and Travis Everett Herndon.  Clotelle was fortunate to have enjoyed the births and contributed to the lives of five great-grandchildren, Catherine Elizabeth Farrow Previn, Lucy Emerson Graves Previn, Carter Breeon Suter, Mary Beatrice Farrow Previn and Caroline Lillian Thompson.

She left her indelible mark on every life she touched, every mouth she fed, every student she taught, every stranger she assisted.

To know Clotelle, lovingly called “Mo” by nearly everyone who knew her, was to know the mark of quiet greatness, personal determination and relentless self sacrifice.  She goes now to the ages as one of the greats of her generation.

Forevermore remembered.  Forevermore honored.  Forevermore, those left to cherish her memory, are in her debt.