NATCHEZ — The Lewis family of Ferriday may be the most documented family in the town thanks to Frankie Jean Lewis Terrell.

Family members said Terrell will be remembered for a life collecting and chronicling pieces of her family history for the world to see.

Terrell, sister of rock and roll superstar Jerry Lee Lewis and curator of the Lewis Family Museum in Ferriday, died Sunday. She was 71.

Terrell’s daughter Mamie Terrell Jones said she was a hardworking individual who did her best to share the history of her family and of Ferriday.

“My mother was a homemaker and she was a museum curator who worked very hard all over her life,” Jones said. “Beside her brother, she really elevated the town and brought it together to show off the people of Ferriday.”

Terrell’s museum consisted of memorabilia from her life in Ferriday alongside her famous siblings Jerry Lee Lewis and Linda Gail Lewis. Her cousin, Ferriday Mayor Sherrie Jacobs McMahon, said it was visited by locals and tourists regularly.

“Frankie Jean Lewis Terrell made friends all over the world,” McMahon said. “She was the creator and resident docent of the Lewis Family Museum in Ferriday. She adored her famous brother and sister.”

Terrell welcomed people around the globe with her sharp-witted, sometimes quirky humor.

In a 2011 interview, Terrell said she did not expect people to come to her funeral and that she did not want people to cry over her.

“They’ll have to hire mourners,” Terrell said, laughing. “But I don’t want people crying, God isn’t finished with me. I don’t think he has even started.

“But I know one thing, I’m going to miss me when I’m gone.”

Terrell’s daughter Marian Jean Terrell said her mother had a reason for her feelings, and that she was an incredible person.

“She was just a really, really strong woman,” Marian Jean said. “She was one of the greatest people ever. She would give you the clothes off her back.”

Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday and the funeral will be at Friday at 10 a.m. at Concordia Funeral Home in Ferriday at 601 Alabama Ave. Burial will follow at the Calhoun Family Cemetery in Clayton.