PROSPERITY — Friends and family came together Monday night to honor the life of Clatie Stribble with a candlelight vigil held in her memory and one common theme emerged: She is someone who will be hard to forget.
“The amount of love and support that the Stribble family has received is unreal. The first line of defense is all of the people out here that knows somebody that is in a bad, abusive relationship,” said Preacher Jeff O’Dell, who blessed the vigil. “It’s up to you warn these people, to love these people and to get them out of those relationships and lead them in the right path. If you know somebody that is in that position, do everything you can to get them out of it.”
Stribble was found dead in her home last week. A man has been arrested and charged with murder in her death.
To many, Stribble was a selfless woman who would go without so she could provide for her children. She could light up any room she walked into. Remembered as a hard worker with an infectious smile, she was adored by all of her customers and was no stranger to posting the occasional selfie on Facebook.
“It didn’t take much to make Clatie happy. It was the little things, like finding Pokemon. One night she a Niyla couldn’t sleep and drove to Sonic at 3 a.m. to get a cherry coke and hot fudge sundae and found nine Pokemon in the process,” said Crystal Shealy, who stepped up to help put the vigil together. “She thought it was the greatest thing and she had to put it all over Facebook so that everybody knew about it. Clatie never met a stranger. Two weeks ago, Clatie stopped to see about a man laying in the road and provided comfort until help arrived. This is the kind of person she was, always putting others first.”
Stribble’s children — Carver, Evelyn, Iysis and Niyla — were in attendance and lit a candle symbolizing their mother’s life and lit from that single flame to represent one life.
Like those who knew Stribble, one friend who used to work with Clatie remembered her smile, saying it could brighten anyone’s day and that she had the biggest heart that came from above. She continued saying that one day everyone would see Clatie again and stressed helping get those in abusive relationships the help they need.
Another speaker who offered words about Clatie was a young girl named Allison.
“I found myself in a hard spot, I was homeless at 17. Clatie worked with me and she took me in when I had nothing. She gave me everything that she had. She was working every night to put food on her kids table and she never left me behind,” said Allison.
“I’m hoping that this gives people a little bit of peace and comfort knowing that Clatie impacted so many people’s lives in such a positive manner. I’m hoping that with advertising the memorial fund and everything that it will be a help to her children and helping her girls live on without her,” said Shealy.
Being a survivor of domestic violence herself, Shealy decided to step forward with planning the vigil, saying that it was the right thing to do and that it was something she wanted to do for Clatie.
A memorial fund has been set up for Stribble’s children. Anyone can go to any Wells Fargo and donate to the Clatie Dean Stribble Memorial Fund. There is also a YouCaring donation page set up that goes straight into the Wells Fargo fund.