Whitney Houston’s Maternal Grandparents – Delia Mae Drinkard and Nitcholas Drinkard
Whitney Houston’s Maternal Grandparents
Whitney Houston’s maternal grandparents, are her mother, Cissy Houston’s mother and father. They are the parents of famed gospel group The Drinkard Singers.
Her grandparent’s names are Nitcholas “Nitch” Arthur Drinkard (Sr) and Adelia “Delia” Mae (McCaskill) Drinkard. Nitch was born on June 7, 1896 in Blakely, Georgia. Delia was born on 1901 in Freeport, Florida.
They married on September 16, 1917 in Bay, Florida and had 8 kids. Nitch was 21 and Delia was 16 when they married. They had their first 3 kids in Early County, Georgia. The first child, William, was born in 1918, a year after they were married. Nitch was 22 and Delia was 17. The remaining 5 kids, including Cissy, were born in Newark, New Jersey.
Whitney Houston’s Maternal Grandparent’s 8 Children:
- William Drinkard
- Arthur Lee Drinkard (Warwick) – mother of Dionne Warwick, Delia Warwick, and Mancel Leland Warrick Jr
- Marie Drinkard (Epps)
- Handsome Drinkard
- Annie Drinkard (Moss)
- Nicholas Arthur Drinkard Jr
- Larry Archie Drinkard Sr
- Emily “Cissy” Drinkard (Houston) – mother of Whitney Houston
The Drinkard Quartet/The Drinkard Singers
Nitch encouraged his children to form a singing gospel group in Newark who called themselves The Drinkard Quartet. The Drinkard Quartet included Annie, Cissy, Nick Jr, and Larry. They became the Drinkard Singers when Marie joined them.
Nitch and Delia Mae are the maternal grandparents of Whitney Houston and maternal great grandparents of Bobbi Kristina Brown.
Nitch died at the age of 55 in Newark, New Jersey on May 5, 1952. Delia died at the age of 40 in Morgan, Alabama on December 2, 1941. They were married from 1917-1941.