Mrs. Florene Mumphery Manning of 315 East 23rd Avenue, Cordele, Georgia, died Sunday, August 24, 2025, at the Crisp Regional Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Cordele, Georgia.

The funeral service will be held Saturday, September 6, 2025, at 2:00 PM in the sanctuary of the Gethsemane Baptist Church in Cordele, Georgia.  The burial will follow at the Bethel Cemetery in Cordele, Georgia.

On August 24, 2025, the Lord spoke, and a beautiful soul named Mrs. Florene "Sweet" Mumphery Manning answered His call and she entered into eternal rest.

Sweet was born on March 15, 1938, in Cordele, Crisp County, Georgia. She was the beloved daughter of the late Deacon Elbert Mumphery, II, and the late Mrs. Mattie Florene Bacon Mumphery. She was the sixth child of fifteen siblings and was born into a family deeply rooted in serving our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sweet attended Cross Road Elementary School as well as the Gillespie-Selden Institute. Her passion was to make everyone look beautiful, so God gave her a gift for doing hair. She was a home cosmetologist for years.  Later, she pursued a career as a domestic worker, a childcare provider, and then a Dietitian with Crisp Regional Hospital.  She    retired after more than forty years of dedicated service.

Sweet joined Crossroad Baptist Church at an early age, but as she grew older, she united with the Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church.  Her desire was to allow God to use her and the soulful voice He had blessed her with. It was because of this blessing she became a member of the choir at Gethsemane.  Sweet's signature song was "Sending Up My Timber". She sent up her timber every day,  knowing that one day she will go from labor to reward.

On September 7, 1968, Sweet married John Arthur Manning, whom she affectionately called "Bubba", and together they built a home   rooted in love. She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend.

Sweet was known for her beautiful smile and lively personality. She was an extremely caring person. When anyone visited her, she was sure to prepare a meal with all of his or her favorites, and there were no declinations of eating.  She loved her family dearly. One of her   favorite pastimes was to joke with her nieces and nephews. Sweet was preceded in death by her parents, her loving husband, John Arthur Manning, and her siblings:  Lois, Elbert III, Lillie, Willie Mae, Betty, Zira Mae, Charleston, Emma Jean, and Ella Mae.

She leaves cherished memories with her caring and loving daughter, Lula Mae Mumphery Johnson,  Mt. Vernon, New York; two grandchildren, Tiffany Mumphery, Atlanta, Georgia and Desi Johnson, Bronx, New York; three great-grandchildren: Deaquan O'Connor, Durell O'Connor, Atlanta, Georgia, and Sierria Mumphery, Mt. Vernon, New York; three loving and devoted sisters, Mary M. (John) Dolberry, Mt. Vernon, New York, Evon M. (Leon) Hughes, and Genivieve  Mumphery, Cordele, Georgia; two loving and devoted brothers, Bonzie Lee "Sonny" Mumphery, Queens, New York, and Willie "Bug" (Virginia) Mumphery, Cordele, Georgia; a loving and devoted sister-in-law, Vera Mathis, Cordele, Georgia; a brother-in-law, James (Linda) Adams, Atlanta Georgia; a sister-in-law, Grace Mumphery, Chicago, Illinois; and a host of loving nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives as well as two devoted friends, Mother Jessie Kate Harmon, Vivian Telfair, Debra Williams, Gloria Felton, Patricia Lester, Geneva Curry, Carrie Holmes, Ruthie Griffin, her Gethsemane Church Family, and many more sorrowing friends who will cherish her love and  memories.

Her legacy of love, strength, and faith will continue to live on in the hearts of all who knew her.