Funeral services were held on February 17, 2022 at Miramar National Cemetery. Final arrangements were entrusted to Anderson-Ragsdale Mortuary.
Mercedes Shade was born in Midland, Pennsylvania, and was baptized at an early age at Mount Olive Baptist Church. Her formative years were spent between Midland, Pennsylvania, and Chicago, Illinois.
Mercedes married Maxwell Bennett after graduation from high school and moved to Youngstown, Ohio. Two children were born unto this union: Sandra and Maxwell.
During her studies, she worked as a part time government employee and as a model. All while working to obtain her Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Arts from Northern Illinois University.
She launched her career with the Federal Government as a Civil Rights Investigator/EO Specialist. At the Commission on Civil rights, she worked with the Public Relations Officer handling press releases to the media on upcoming hearings on civil rights issues raised by the Commission’s State Advisory Committee.
While at the Office of the Special Representative for Trade Negotiation, she traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, with a team of negotiators working on the Kennedy Round of Trade Negotiations. She served as a State Liaison for upstate New York as a part of the Conflict Resolution Team, traveling to areas where there was a civil rights issue.
At the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, she was a member of the Substantial Equivalency Task Force and traveled to various states examining Local and State fair housing laws and ordinances to determine if they were equivalent with Federal Fair Housing laws. In Region V and IX of HUD, she served as a Conciliation negotiator, setting up conference sites and conducting conciliation conferences.
Mercedes main focus in life was caring for her two children. Her ‘joyful vice’ in life was her love of golf. She belonged to ladies’ golf clubs in Washington, DC, Chicago, Palm Springs, and San Diego. Her second ‘joyful vice’ was travel, and travel she did, to numerous foreign countries.
Mercedes leaves to cherish her memory her husband, Noble Shade; son, Maxwell Bennett; daughter, Sandra Falwell (Robert); stepsons: Roderick Shade and Randall Shade; 8 Grandsons, as well as a host of friends and church family at Christ United Presbyterian Church.
