Onvia Nell Long ^585,820

  General Notes:

OBITUARY

Onvia Nell (Long) Walker of Rolesville, North Carolina passed away peacefully on December 14, 2018. Nell, as she was called by friends, was born in Newnata, Arkansas on March 1, 1932 to Lewis and Mary Ellen Gertrude (Gower) Long. A graduate of Mountain View High School in 1949, she played the position of forward on the Mountain View High School Lady Yellowjackets basketball team. On November 28, 1953, she married Homer Edsel Walker in Lawrence, Kansas, and they started life together in Kansas City, Kansas. She worked as a bookkeeper for Transport Clearinghouse in Kansas City, Missouri, until the family relocated to Memphis, Tennessee and then, Southaven, Mississippi, where she worked for Mack Truck Lines before becoming a stay at home mom. During this period in her life, she was the Neighborhood Chairman of the Mockingbird Neighborhood Area for the Tennessee/ Arkansas/ Mississippi Girl Scout Council. In this role, she was instrumental in helping to start and support many Girl Scout troops in North Mississippi. She also served as an Assistant Girl Scout Leader for her daughter's Junior Girl Scout troop.

She returned to work in 1978 at John C. Hines Company where she filled many roles, including bookkeeper and administrative assistant to one of the company owners. At her daughter's high school, Southaven High School in Southaven, Mississippi, she was an active member and officer with the Band Booster Club and spent many Friday nights supporting the Marching Charger band.

Nell and Homer retired to Newnata, Arkansas in 1998, where they enjoyed being around extended family and reconnecting with long-time friends.

Mrs. Walker was a long-time member of Carriage Hills Baptist Church in Southaven, Mississippi, where she served as a children's Sunday School teacher and Vacation Bible School worker. In Arkansas, she attended Timbo Landmark Missionary Baptist Church.

Mrs. Walker's family is planning a memorial service sometime in the Spring in Arkansas, after which she will be laid to rest beside her husband of almost 52 years, Homer Edsel Walker.

She is survived by her daughter, Debra Walker Elder, son-in-law, Chris Elder, granddaughters, Julie Elder and Lydia Elder, all of Rolesville, North Carolina, and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, two brothers, Charles Long and Raymon Long, and four sisters, Opal Long, Edith (Long) Harris, Evie Jean (Long) Avey, and Gennie Lea (Long) Haney, and her parents.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that all memorials be made to Wake Forest Baptist Church Youth Music Ministry, 107 E. South Avenue, Wake Forest, NC 27587, 919-556-5141, a ministry in which her granddaughters actively participate. If using the online donation link, please note in comments that the donation is for the Youth Music Ministry as a memorial to Onvia Nell Walker, and please list the same in the memo line of personal checks.

A service of Bright Funeral Home & Cremation Center, 405 S. Main St., Wake Forest. (919) 556-5811

To send flowers to Onvia's family, please visit our floral section.

Source: https://www.brightfunerals.com/tributes/Onvia-Walker

  Life Events:

1. Occupation: Administrative Assistant, Bookeeper. ⁸²⁰

2. High School-Graduated: Mountain View High School, 1949, Mountain View, Stone, Arkansas, USA. ⁸²²

3. Church Affiliation: Timbo Landmark Missionary Baptist Church: Timbo, Stone, Arkansas, United States. ⁸²²

4. Church Affiliation: Carriage Hills Baptist Church: Southaven, DeSoto, Mississippi, United States. ⁸²²

Onvia married Homer Edsel Walker, son of Iva Isaac Watson "Isaac" Walker and Eva Agee Bailey, on 28 Nov 1953 in Lawrence, Douglas, Kansas, USA.⁸²⁰ (Homer Edsel Walker was born on 9 Sep 1927 in Malvern, Hot Spring, Arkansas, USA,^585,815 died on 2 May 2005 in Mountain View, Stone, Arkansas, USA ^815,820 and was buried in Big Springs Cemetery (Newnata, Stone, Arkansas, USA) ⁸²⁰.)