Lucy Prewitt Starkes was born on October 5, 1936, to Annie Cook Franklin and Thomas Edgar Franklin in Greensboro, Alabama. She accepted the Lord at a young age and joined Bay Springs AME Zion Church.
Lucy loved the Lord and was a long-time member of Bethel Baptist Church, where she served in several auxiliaries, including the Pearl Frye Circle, October Birthday Club, and Adult Sunday School. She graduated from Hale County Training School and attended
Stillman College for two years before continuing her education at San Diego City College, earning two Associate Degrees in Early Education and Curriculum Development. She also attended adult continuing education classes at the Educational Cultural Complex.
Lucy married Archie Bryant Prewitt on June 24, 1961, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and moved to San Diego. They had two daughters, Sharon Bryant and Michelle Bryant. After Archie’s passing, she later married OD Starkes. Lucy taught in the Head Start Program, and after retiring, worked part-time in school cafeterias with the San Diego City Unified School District, including at Freese Elementary, where she considered many children as her grandchildren. She was active in the community and a member of Colonial Belles, Las Muecas, Ruth Chapter Order of the Eastern Star, and the San Diego Young at Heart Senior Club. She cared for the unhoused, feeding two local groups in Lemon Grove.
Lucy enjoyed theater, especially the Old Globe Theater, and attended local, regional, and Broadway productions. She loved August Wilson’s plays and began seeing them while visiting her daughter at Yale University.
Lucy passed away on November 24, 2025, from injuries related to a car crash.
She is preceded in death by her parents; Annie and Edgar Franklin, her husbands; Archie Bryant Prewitt and OD Starkes, and her siblings; Mattie Harris, Virginia Jackson, Johnnie Thomas, Thomas Franklin, Willie Franklin, and Annie Cockrell.
She is survived by her daughters; Sharon Bryant and Michelle Bryant, step-daughter Louise (Clarence) Harris, siblings; Lillie Cole, Mary Franklin, Evelyn Smith, Jacqueline Franklin, Janice Franklin, James (Mona) Franklin, David Franklin, and William (Dallas) Franklin, three grandchildren; Michael Thomas Fisher, Malyka Alliya Norville, and Ibny Xian Saeed Crookson, two step-grandchildren; Atoy Harris and Tonetta Harris, two step great-grandchildren; Atoy Harris, Jr. and Jessica Pyzel, and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, family, and friends.
