Mae Etta Love

Mae Etta Love, the Matriarch of the Love family, was granted her wings on Sunday, March 23, 2025. The peace upon her face suggests, our Almighty God, through His immense grace and mercy, whispered, “Come my daughter, for it’s time to go home”. He then closed her eyes and set her free from this sinful world.

Mae Etta Love was born Mae Etta McFadden in Cato, AR on July 14, 1937. She was the eldest child born to the late Eli and Ruth McFadden. She grew up in the Cato community surrounded by relatives. She learned her discipline and outstanding work ethic from a lifetime of watching her loving parents work hard to achieve everything they had. Over the years, she helped them with the family farm as well as helping to raise her younger siblings. She mastered the art of caring for others while remaining firm by watching how her parents commanded the students on the school buses each of them drove for years. Most people would describe Mae as a mild mannered, polite, friendly, and easy-going person. Those who knew her well, would also add tough, and resilient. She was an awesome woman.

Mae Etta confessed her belief in Christ at an early age at St. Peter’s Rock Missionary Baptist Church in Cato, under the leadership of Reverend O.D. Woods. During this time, Mae served as an usher and sang in the choir. She instilled the same dedication in her family. During her latter and golden years, under the leadership of Dr. Clyde E. Kelly, she served as the senior mission president, and then Mother’s board president. She was a dedicated and remarkable woman.

Mae Etta attended and graduated from the Pulaski County Training High School. Being the beautiful woman she was, she caught the eye of the love of her life, the late Nathaniel Love Sr. She had originally planned to attend nursing school. Meeting Nathaniel changed the course of her life. The pair united in holy matrimony in 1954. To this union, seven children were born. This decision allowed her to become the most loving, compassionate, endearing, kind, protective, strong, extraordinary, intuitive, caring, funny, and mindful mother/person that one could know. Another awesome thing about Mae was that these attributes were not limited to just her family. Every person she met also received some measure of her special attributes. That is just who she was.

Over the years, Mae Etta earned various titles due to the blessing of ushering in multiple generations. She was known as Momma, MA, Granny Mae, Granny MA, Gangster Granny, Sister, Sister Love, Mrs. Love, Mother Love, Cousin Mae, Aunt Mae, My Angel, the old lady, My Girl and My Friend. There may be some not listed, but just this list, shows how she was connected to so many people. If you were ever blessed to witness Mae’s interaction with the various generations, you were a better person for it, because it was genuinely beautiful. She would always say, “my being nice to people is really coming back to me in my old age”. Mae Etta McFadden Love was simply a beautiful woman through and through.

Mae Etta was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her brother, Wilton McFadden, three children: Nathaniel Love Jr, Vickie Love Bush, and Valeria Love. She leaves three daughters: Jacqueline Love-Ryan-Hennings, Lisa Bridgewater, and Phyllis Donley (Donald); one son, Gregory Dale Love (Alicia); one sister, Pauline Torres; sister-in-law, Gladys McFadden;18 grandchildren; 40 great-grandchildren; 12 great-great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends to cherish her memories.