Funeral services for Elsie Keys Elkins are Tuesday, May 12, 2015, at 11 a.m. at Zion Hill Baptist Church with burial in Strong Hope Cemetery. Stringer Family Funeral Home in Hazlehurst is in charge of arrangements.

Visitation is Monday, May 11, 2015, from 5 until 8 p.m. at the funeral home.

Mrs. Elkins, 74, of Atlanta, Georgia, died on May 8, 2015.

Elsie was a devoted Christian and longtime member of Zion Hill Baptist Church. She was a remarkable pianist who began playing for the church as a young girl and went on to record albums as a member of the gospel group “The Zionlighters.” Her artistry however was not limited to music; she was also a talented designer and seamstress who created elegant gowns for beauty pageant contestants.  Her dresses became so popular that beauty queens would travel from all over the country to her shop, Elkins Exclusives.

In her later years, she moved to Atlanta to be with her daughter’s family, where, in addition to being a loving mother, she became their beloved “Granny”. Her grandchildren, Stella and Ezra, meant the world to her, and she to them.

Survivors are her daughter and son-in-law, Sherry Elkins Gardner and Richard E. Gardner III of Atlanta; sister, Grace Lavern Sandifer of Wesson and Melba Joyce Crane of Brookhaven; brothers, James Estus Keys and Carl Ray Keys, both of Wesson; and grandchildren, Anna Estelle Gardner and Richard Ezra Gardner IV.