Annette Taylor Rider, 89, a native of Bay Minette and a resident of the White House Fork Community, died Thursday, July 21, 2011 at Robertsdale Health Care.
She and her husband, Charlie, opened Rider’s Grocery in the White House Fork Community on County Road 40 in 1953. They raised their three children, Pat, Ray and Taylor, “in the store” teaching them to serve God, family and community. The store was a hub for conversation over a coke, shelling peas, a cup of coffee, gathering before a deer hunt or meeting a local politician.
After his untimely death in 1975, she continued to run the store. She said in a mid- 90s newspaper article, “I ask the Lord to let me be a help to somebody each day and he always opens a door. I think what we need to do as Christians is to let our light shine for others.”
And that she did from providing a listening ear to those who dropped by to giving food to anyone in need. One of her joys was cooking and people coming in to eat, or taking a plate to a shut in. She enjoyed Auburn football year around and was happy to banter with any Alabama fan at any
time. Her smile was contagious and her words were wise.
She retired from Rider’s Grocery in 1995 but she still enjoyed shopping, grandchildren and people. She loved God, her family, White House Fork and the White House Fork Pentecostal Holiness Church.
She was preceded in death by her husband Charlie A. Rider Sr.; parents Bolin Green and Maddie Hardy Taylor; five brothers, Tom Taylor, Floyd Taylor, Morris Taylor, B.G. Taylor Jr. and Gene Taylor; and three sisters, Vella (Babe)Taylor, Marie White and Eunice Howell Felter.
Survivors include three children, Pat (Hubert) Devine and Ray Rider, both of White House Fork and Taylor (Carol) Rider of Bay Minette; sister, Hazel Strickland of Bay Minette; seven grandchildren, Yolanda Devine (Jerry) Johnson of Orange Beach, Val Devine of White House Fork, Shelly Rider of Silverhill, Stephanie Rider (Bobby) White of White House Fork, Bart Rider of
White House Fork, Amity Rider (Cole) Jones of Daphne and Jonathan F. (Kara)
Rider of Spanish Fort; and four great- grandchildren, Savannah White,
Christopher White, Addison Ruth Jones and Caroline Grace Jones.
Funeral services were held Saturday, July 23 at White House Fork Pentecostal Holiness Church with the Rev. Clyde Smith, the Rev. Fred Stallworth and the Rev. J.P. Lambert officiating. Burial followed at Johnson Cemetery.
Pallbearers were Bart Rider, Jonathan Rider, Jerry Johnson, Christopher White, Bobby White and Cole Jones.
The family requests memorial donations be made to the White House Fork Pentecostal Holiness Church Building Fund, 11513 White House Fork Road Extension, Bay Minette, AL 36507.
Arrangements were made by Norris Funeral Home, Bay Minette. Online condolences may be made at www.norrisfuneralservice.com.
