Theodora O. Lovett

Rarely was she called Theodora. And those times when she was, it was usually by her mother, which meant she was about to get a rare scolding or worse about something. She was always Dora. Much more fitting because there was never a more adorable child than the youngest of Theodore and Olivia Mack’s children. She was a beautiful person with a captivating smile. From the time she spoke her first words, she showed her wit, wisdom and intolerance for meekness.

She always spoke her mind in plain language.

She explained it this way: Growing up with older brothers, she had to be tough to stand her ground.  There would be no bullying her to do their work. Yes, work, not chores. She grew up knowing what work was at an early age.

She was born April 15, 1955, in Tallahassee and spent her early years there and in the rural Jackson County community of Jacob where her parents managed a small grocery and farm owned by her grandfather, Charlie Mack. When Dora was 8, the family moved south to Harlem in Hendry County, again to manage her grandfather’s enterprises.

Harlem is where she made lifelong friends while attending first Harlem Academy and then Clewiston High School.  She was a top student who could manage in one evening her duties in the store, complete school homework and whip up a new outfit on the sewing machine to wear to school the next day—while never missing a beat on the latest gossip. It was during this time that Dora took on another project that further defines the strength of her character.  She took underwing an infant niece, Cynthia Edwina Mack, helping to care for her while the child’s young parents still were finding their way. It was a loving bond that has lasted all these years.

After high school Dora returned to Tallahassee to attend Florida A&M University where she made more lifelong friends and joined Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. After graduating in 1977 with a business degree, Dora came to Jacksonville to work at the Federal Reserve Bank. After five years at the Reserve Bank, she was laid off. But, as is often the case, it was then that she found her true calling. She became an educator and worked in the Duval County Public School system, teaching special education at Stilwell Middle School for 38 years.  

Not long after arriving in Jacksonville, a friend from Harlem who had migrated there years earlier introduced her to Andrew Lovett Jr., who was born in and grew up in Jacksonville. They were married on August 11, 1979, and had two sons, Andre and Alex. Jacksonville has been her home ever since. She accepted God in her life in 1986 and was a member of Hope Chapel Ministries and would later join Source of Life Ministries. Her illness interrupted a wonderful retirement that she and Andrew had begun together in 2023.  

Dora was preceded in death by parents, Theodore R. Mack and Eleanor Olivia Pope Mack Beacham; brothers, Michael J. Baulkman, L.J. Mack, Theodore Mack Jr., and Anthony R. Mack Sr.; and sister, Brenda Joyce Mack.

Family in addition to her husband, Andrew Lovett Jr.; include sons, Andrew Lovett III, Andre Lovett Sr. (Alveria) and Alex Lovett (Jennifer); grandchildren, Darrion Lovett (Kiana), Savia Lovett, Andre Lovett Jr., Hannah Rivers, Adrian Lovett and Athena Lovett; great grandchildren, Chastin Lovett, Nasir Lovett and Ezekiel Lovett; brother, Edwin M. Mack; sisters, Carolyn Pope Kingcade (Jerome Kingcade), and Teddy Rose Sims Mack; sisters-in-law, Antoinette Brooks (Aaron) and Gloria Lovett, as well as many nieces in addition to Cynthia Edwina Mack James, and nephews and cousins. 

Sarah L. Carter's Funeral Home Northside is serving the Family.

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