Ms. Rachel Ann Amones was born on August 9, 1971, in Lakeland, Florida, to the late Walter Willie Amones and Eloise Pinkney Amones. She was a devoted member of First Baptist Church of College Hill under the leadership of Pastor Dr. S. Evan Burrows. Rachel graduated from Leto High School in Tampa, Florida, as a member of the Class of 1989. She continued her education at Bethune-Cookman College, graduating in 1994 with a degree in Business. She was employed with MAS Environmental, where she worked diligently and made lasting connections. Rachel will always be remembered for her warm presence, infectious laughter, and the love she shared so freely with everyone she encountered. Her kindness and spirit touched many lives, and she will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved her.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Walter Willie Amones and Eloise Pinkney Amones; Robert Smith; her sisters, Maggie Belcher and Josie Amones; her aunts, Mary P. Smith, Arvilla P. Simmons, Pearlie Webb, Adena Reynolds, Hannah Hudson, Barbara Bryant, Le'Ander Leveston, and Zellean Mackey; and her uncle, Carzell Ponkney.

She leaves to cherish her precious memories: her daughter, Samya Hicks; her sisters, Rita Elaine Smith of Gainesville, Florida, and Yvonne Crawford and family of Rochester, New York; her adoptive mother, Edwina "Kitty" Sheppard; niece, Marquessa (Jeremy Sr.) and family; her god sister, Myeisha Jones (Leroy Campbell); her brother-in-law, Cedric Hicks; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, other sorrowing relatives, and friends.