Carletha B. West, affectionally known as Nana, was born to William H. and Cornelia McNair Smith on a farm in Elrod, North Carolina on July 18th, 1912. She attended public schools in Elrod, N.C. until the age of 10 and then moved to Washington, DC in 1931. She joined Ebenezer UMC in 1935 and was a faithful member until her death.  She was a member of the United Methodist Women Group and the Communion Stewarts for many years at the church. Carletha spent her DC years working, traveling, attending church, exercising and bowling competitively. She embarked on voyages abroad to London, France, Mexico, the Virgin Islands, and visited many states throughout the United States. Carletha lived to see wars, women's suffrage, the Great Depression, the civil rights movement and countless other historic events. She said one of the major historic events she remembered attending was Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream Speech" at the Lincoln Memorial in August 1963. Carletha moved to Brandywine Assisted Living Facility in 2018 and passed away peacefully on Thursday, September 17, 2020. She was preceded in death by her husband Richard West, Jr. and sons James Freeman and Lloyd J. Coleman Jr.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, please donate to So Others May Eat in memory of Carletha West at www.some.org