Lena Mae Poitier

In Loving Memory of Lena Mae Poitier March 25, 1937 – June 28, 2025
Lena Mae Poitier, a devoted mother, grandmother, educator, and cherished friend, passed away peacefully on June 28, 2025, in Williamsburg, Virginia. She was 88 years old.
Born in Clio, South Carolina, on March 25, 1937, Lena was the daughter of Henry McLean and Idella McCrae McLean. From a young age, Lena embodied grace, intelligence, and quiet strength-qualities that would define her life and touch the hearts of everyone she encountered.
Lena pursued her passion for learning at St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she earned her bachelor's degree in 1959. She dedicated her professional life to inspiring young minds, serving as a beloved AP Biology teacher at South Lenoir High School in Deep Run, North Carolina. Teaching was more than a career for Lena-it was her calling. Her students knew her not only for her knowledge but for the warmth, encouragement, and wisdom she freely gave. Many of her former students continued to visit her throughout her life.
Lena was an active member of the North Carolina Association of Educators and found deep spiritual fulfillment through her involvement in both St. Augustine's Episcopal Church and Hickory Neck Episcopal Church. Her faith was a guiding light in her life and a source of strength for those around her.
Beyond the classroom, Lena found joy in the simple pleasures of life: sewing, quilting, gardening, and cooking. Her greatest happiness, however, came from caring for her family. She was a nurturing presence, always offering a listening ear, a hot meal, and a heart full of love.
Lena was preceded in death by her parents, Henry McLean and Idella McCrae McLean, her loving husband Marlon S. Poitier, and her sister Virginia Delores Dugger. Though she now rests in peace, her legacy continues through the many lives she touched.
She is lovingly survived by her children: son Marlon Bernard Poitier (Angella) and daughter Sonja Poitier-Hickman (Juan); grandchildren: Camron Poitier, Andrea Hickman, and Vincent Hickman; and her beloved nursing aide and adopted daughter Thuy (Betty) Thach, along with her adoptive daughter Jackey Leonard (John Sr.) and their children, John Leonard Jr. and Joy Leonard Rhodes (Ray). She also leaves behind her nephew Michael Kerwin Dugger (Simone) and grandnephews Matthew, Jacob, and Joshua Dugger as well as her sisters and brother in law: Carolyn Lawson, Phyllis Taylor, and Charles Poitier. Lena will be deeply missed by her cousins-Linda, Peggy, Annie and Dorothy Yon-who were more like sisters, and by a host of Cousins, Nieces, Nephews and friends who were blessed by her presence.
A celebration of Lena's life will be held at Hickory Neck Episcopal Church in Toano, Virginia. She will be laid to rest at Pineview Cemetery in Deerfield Beach, Florida.
In lieu of flowers, the family invites you to honor Lena's memory by donating to the Dementia Society of America (www.DementiaSociety.org/donate). To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Lena, please visit our floral store.