Alberta Brownlee Madden

Mrs. Alberta “Bert” Brownlee Madden, 84, of Simpsonville, South Carolina, departed this life on Monday, December 16, 2019, at her residence. She was the daughter of the late Robert and Lucy Terry Brownlee.


Mrs. Alberta was known for her cooking skills. She was a caterer known for baking and her decorating skills. She was known throughout Greenville County for her wedding cakes.

Early in life she was a hairdresser and known for her crafting skills. She was a seamstress, often making uniforms for the youth choir and school band. She was a gifted singer who moved crowds with her booming voice. She sang with her sisters, Cedar Grove Gospel Choir and other family and friends. During this time of year she was always asked to sing Jesus, Oh What A Wonderful Child.

She was a loving mother and grandmother, not only to her children but to countless others. She was a foster parent to many and an adoptive mother to all who crossed her paths at Cedar Grove and Mom's Daycare.

She was preceded in death by her parents; a son, Stacy Madden; her grandson, Antonio Johnson; two sisters, Sarah Posley and Lois Harris.

Left to cherish many fond and loving memories are her husband, Joe Allen Madden of the home; two daughters, Barbara Harrison of Simpsonville, and Sharon (Horace) Butler of Greenville; four sons, Joe Alton Madden, and James Alfred Madden, both of Simpsonville, Toney Nathaniel (Deborah) Madden of Mauldin, and Darrol Necole (Karen) Madden of Piedmont; ten grandchildren, fourteen great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren; and a host of other relatives and friends.

Mrs. Madden will be missed by all, while her legacy of hard work, skill, and talent lives on.