Gwendolyn was born, Gwendolyn Robinson, to parents who were from Macon, Georgia.

After fleeing the Jim Crow south they raised a family of five daughters here in Cleveland, Ohio.

Gwendolyn was the fourth daughter born to Alfred and Mattie Robinson, November 9, 1928. She grew up at a time when kids played stick ball in the streets, roller skated and even tapped dance. She graduated from John Hay High School in Cleveland, Ohio, and it was her beauty , wit, and grace that attracted Melvin Hollyfield to Gwennie as he called her.

They met at 15 and were married at 20 in 1948. Gwennie and Melvin lived a genuine and quiet family focused life. To her union with Melvin, Gwendolyn had three beautiful daughters, Valerie, Deborah, and Rose (Candy). She enjoyed cooking, loved holidays, and celebrated nearly every birthday by baking a cake. She could always be found in the kitchen, cooking, baking, and helping.

Gwendolyn worked in the Cleveland Public School system as a Cafeteria Lunch Cook for more than 25 years, retiring in 1994.

Gwendolyn loved flowers and beautiful colors, especially the color pink. She surrounded her life and home in this beauty, from the pretty purple coffee maker to the sugar bowl shaped like a purse, and all of the flowers in every room of her home. Everything she wore had a splash of color and pop of bling . Her smile and laughter, her wit and grace were even more beautiful as she personified beauty in her living.

While graceful and demure, she was fiercely resilient and strong. At 85, she received news that breast cancer had invaded her body. It was almost uneventful when less than 24 hours after surgery, she was at home making a pot of coffee as though nothing serious occurred. She was meticulous about her health, read every label, and was blessed to be fully independent until Christmas Eve 2018, when the metastasized breast cancer consumed her bones, Even then, she was strong and resilient.

Gwendolyn loved the Lord and read her Bible daily and was a faithful member of Lee Road Baptist Church. Gwendolyn was blessed to be loved by so many family, friends, and church members.

She now joins her husband Melvin (d.1995) her mother, father, and sisters, Willa Mae, Jean, and Joan and great-granddaughter Mya who have waited patiently for her.

She leaves to mourn her sister: Mildred DeLeon, daughters: Valerie Jackson, Deborah Rucker, and Rose Marie Merriweather (James), grandchildren Michele (Shelly), Charles (Chuckie), Darrell, Daniel, Brian, Carl, and Christine (Chriss), Great-grandchildren: Erika, Charles, Destiny, Taneesha, Dominique, Shontia, Darrel, Jr., Imani, Kingston, Amayah, Christian, Logan and Marcellus, Greatgreat-grandchildren: Charles, Chandler, and Caleb. A host of loving nieces and nephews, Patricia, Robert, Kathy, Monica, Donna and Derek, extended family, and friends.

Humbly submitted

The Family