Claudette Arlene Nevils, affectionately known as Claudie or Gram, was born May 8, 1938, in Corinth, Mississippi, to the late Rev. Hugh and Mrs. Ruth Wims. She departed this life on September 21, 2026.

In the 1940s, the Wims family joined the great migration north, leaving Corinth behind for Pontiac, Michigan, drawn by the promise of good work in the automotive plants and the security it could build for a family. Claudette liked to say she accepted Christ, she always maintained that she had personally given her life to Christ at the age of four.  She received her education through the Pontiac School District.

Raising her five children to know and love Christ was the cornerstone of Claudette’s life.  Following the passing of her beloved husband in August 1991, she showed immense courage, taking up the responsibility of shepherding not only her own family but the broader community, and leading them all with love until her transition.

For more than forty years, Claudette gave herself to the children of the Pontiac School District as a devoted parent volunteer. With that same faithfulness, she taught Sunday school every week at New Bethel Baptist Church, shaping generations of young minds both in the classroom and in the Word.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Rev. Hugh and Mrs. Ruth Wims; her husband, Harold Nevils Sr.; five brothers, Robert, Joe, Jerry, and Ronald “Dee Dee” Wims, Clemon “C.W.” Winfield; four sisters, Laura Walker, Mary Kendrick, Louise Stewart, and Stella Winfield; one son, Harold Nevils Jr.; and her grandson, Kejuan “Lou” Hatcher.

Her love lives on in those she leaves behind: one aunt, Estelle Marshall of Pontiac; four children, Katrina (Alan) Hopkins of Pontiac, Marcella (Darryl) Kimbrough of Brownstown, Jeffrey Nevils of Pontiac, and Hugh Nevils of Pontiac; her siblings, Anne Mems of Ferndale, and John (Betty) Wims of Auburn Hills; three sisters-in-law, Shirley Wims of Pontiac, Valarie Wims of Detroit, and Julie Winfield of Bloomfield Hills; nineteen grandchildren, Alliena (Alex) Barry, Eric (Sara) Byers, Christopher Nevils, Lawrence (Alison) Byers, Randall (Julia) Hopkins, Alicia Johnson, Marissa (Lucas) Hopkins-Olivato, Latyna Harmon, Jordan (Madi) Hopkins, Candace Johnson, Carmen Kimbrough, Nicholas Johnson, Danielle Johnson, Justin Hopkins, Paris Johnson, Timothy “Evandar” Brown, Danielle Nevils, Celettia Nevils, and Jesse Kimbrough; thirteen great-grandchildren; along with a host of other relatives and friends.