Raifyeel Mahome El, Sr.

Our Beloved Rafiyeel Mahome El, Sr. was born in Detroit, Michigan on July 25, 1937, at only seven months gestation to Lee Mahome El and Lillie Lorine Hunter Mahome.

Lee Mahome El of Alabama and Lillie Lorine Hunter Mahome of Tennessee came together after previous marriages of which nine children were born. Rafiyeel became the first child born of their union. Raifyeel was his father’s fifth-born son and his mother’s first-born son. By the age of four years old, Rafiyeel was a messenger for local numbers runners. He was a bright, charismatic child who proved to be trustworthy from an early age. Being of a large family, as a teen Rafiyeel “hustled” by bussing tables and selling newspapers to make money for his family. Raifyeel said that he was paid well because the shop owner knew that his mother had many children and Raifyeel would give his earnings to his mother to help care for his younger siblings.

Raifyeel’s father Lee was associated with the Moorish Science Temple of America and his mother Lillie was of Christian faith. Raifyeel was raised to be a principled man and principled he was. The Moors, a predecessor to the Nation of Islam, were expected to treat men with friendship and to have a great appreciation for womanhood. Raifyeel embodied these principles and from an early age, found it very important to stand up for what is right. In his school days, he recounted defending his peers from bullies in the schoolyard. Raifyeel innately stood in the gap for others.

In high school, Rafiyeel played baseball and basketball at Northern High School in Detroit. He was very proud that he played center on the basketball team even as a “little guy.” As for baseball, his family recounts that they believed he would go pro at the time. Raifyeel loved sports and was known to wear his Negro League jacket and cap in his twilight years. In grade eleven, Rafiyeel and his siblings moved to the other side of Detroit and he was then zoned to Northwestern High School, closer to his new address. He then decided to go to work because he was unhappy with the new school and the separation from his close friends. Notably, Raifyeel believed that another reason he was transferred from one Detroit high school to another was because the “White teacher was afraid” of him due to his involvement in many fights with other confrontational students. Raifyeel stated that he never started a fight but also never backed down from one either.

At the young age of seventeen, Rafiyeel enlisted in the U.S. Army. He was one year too young, so his mother Lillie had to sign for Raifyeel to join the armed forces. Raifyeel’s primary reason for joining the Army was to support his mother and younger siblings. To Raifyeel’s credit, he did precisely that. He served as an engineer, baker, and paratrooper in the Army until 1954. He sent his earnings in addition to profits earned from covering other people’s jumps back home to his

mother and younger siblings.

Once back home from the Army, the stunningly handsome Raifyeel was introduced to a beautiful, young woman from Philadelphia named Dorothy Lee Maxwell. Dorothy and Raifyeel’s younger sister Juliet were best friends. It proved to be a wonderful introduction as Raifyeel and Dorothy fell in love and got married in 1959. Later that year Raifyeel and Dorothy had their first son Raifyeel Jr. In 1961 they would move to St. Louis, Missouri, where they had two more sons,

Tony and Derick (Ricky). Raifyeel Sr. was eminently proud of his sons. Raifyeel and Dorothy were divorced in 1967.

In 1964, Rafiyeel moved to Los Angeles, California in search of more job opportunities. Los Angeles had numerous automotive and rubber plants in the 1960s. Once in Los Angeles, Raifyeel met June. From Raifyeel and June’s love a beautiful baby girl was born that they named Jeanine. Raifyeel spoke of gathering nursery items for his new baby as the Los Angeles Riots loomed in the background. This was August 1965.

Unfortunately, June passed away very early as a young woman, which marked the end of Raifyeel and June’s union.

Raifyeel met Southern Louisiana native Sonja Hunt in the 1960s. Both were living in Los Angeles, California. Sonja was a divorcee with two small children a lovely, kind little girl named Kimi and an introverted little boy named Darwin. Raifyeel, true to his nature, loved Sonja’s children and spent a great deal of time taking them to amusement parks in and around California. Raifyeel and Sonja were domestic partners for several years. In that time Raifyeel became a second father to Sonja’s children. Though the relationship would end, Raifyeel remained “Dad” to Kimi Sonja’s daughter for the rest of time.

In 1972, Rafiyeel met Addie Marie Jackson Mahome from Keithville, Louisiana, as coworkers at the United States Post Office on World Way in Los Angeles, California. Raifyeel stated in a recorded conversation that he saw Addie Marie walking down the hall at work and was “in love at first sight.” At which time he proceeded to follow her around until the end of their shifts. Raifyeel said that he told her at their introduction: “We will be together for a long time.” Soon, Raifyeel and Addie Marie began dating, and they married on September 2, 1976. They would remain married until his death.

Addie Marie had a four-year-old daughter when Raifyeel and Addie Marie met. Addie Marie would take over a year to introduce Raifyeel to her daughter Vestria Denay. Raifyeel and Vestria had an instant friendship that turned into a strong father-daughter bond over the course of Vestria’s childhood. Vestria states that her life would have been horrible had God not sent he the gift of Raifyeel as her father.

In August of 1975, Raifyeel and Addie Marie would welcome Raifyeel’s fourth biological son: Addie Marie’s first and only son, Phillip Lee Mahome. Phillip Lee was named after Raifyeel’s paternal grandfather, Phillip, and Raifyeel’s father, Lee.

Raifyeel would also come to regard his first wife’s son by her second husband as his own. Jeff Carter was Raifyeel’s son.

Raifyeel spent his life in service to others. An avid photographer, Rafiyeel chronicled and successfully archived cherished moments of those around him—bringing out the brightest smiles in his subjects. He had the good looks, charm, and sense of humor to make anyone light up.

After Raifyeel’s time working at the United States Post Office, Raifyeel worked as a carpenter for The United States Naval Shipyard in Long Beach, California.

As an empathetic man, Rafiyeel went out of his way to show up for those in need. In his later years living in Los Angeles, Rafiyeel began mentoring children aging out of the foster care system at the National Family Life and Education Center. In his free time, Raifyeel was known to pick up a van load of children early on Sunday mornings to teach them how to drive an automobile. Those children were also important to Raifyeel. Raifyeel used that time to talk to the children about life lessons. Raifyeel’s impact on people’s lives was profound. Many of those same children never lost contact with Raifyeel and adore him to this day.

In 2005, Rafiyeel and Addie Marie retired to Shreveport, Louisiana— the closest city to her birthplace of Keithville, Louisiana. In those days, Rafiyeel loved watching basketball, playing Dominoes and Spades with his family, smoking a little herb, and lounging on the porch of their peaceful home watching the birds frolic in the trees.

Rafiyeel went to glory on the morning of August 26, 2024. He was preceded in death by his father Lee Mahome El, mother Lillie Lorine Hunter Mahome, and siblings Willie Lee, Rose Mae, Retha, Dorothy, Annabelle, Walter Lee, Clarence, Jean, Evelyn, Juliet Josie, Alvis “Fat Man,” Lucinda “Cindy,” Eunice, and Ahmed. He is survived by his children Rafiyeel Jr., Tony, Derick, Phillip, Jeanine, Vestria, Kimi, Darwin, and Jeff, and his siblings Othello “Huckey” and Idella “Della.”