Janie M. O’Neill

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Janie O’Neill, a native of Colerain, died March 30, 2007, at her daughter’s house.

She was the widow of Thomas J. O’Neill.

Survivors include four daughters, Peggy O’Neill, Patricia Caskill, Kathleen Wheeler and Maureen Gibson; sisters, Sadie Stallings, Agnes Bembridge and Bertha Light; 12 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

Janie was a Navy wife for many years and was a member and former officer of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Fleet Reserve Association, Branch 60, the Democrat Club, Pearl Harbor Survivors Association and the Red Hat Society.

A memorial service will be conducted at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Altmeyer Funeral Home, Greenwich Road. The family will receive friends after the service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a favorite charity. Condolences may be offered to the family at www.altmeyer.com.

Letha A. Smith

NORFOLK, Va. – Letha A. Smith, a native of Jackson, died March 28, 2007, at Sentara Leigh Memorial Hospital.

Letha retired in 1999 from the Portsmouth Naval Hospital as an administrator. A member of Mount Gilead Missionary Baptist Church, she was part of the Music Ministry since she was 12.

Survivors include four daughters, Celestine McFarland, Roxanne Harris, Sharon Smith and Lynn Michele Smith-Jones; three sons, William Smith, Mark Smith and Joseph Smith; five brothers, Alonza Brown Sr., Jasper Brown Jr., Willie Brown, the Rev. Cleveland Brown Sr. and Pastor Clinton Brown Sr.; 18 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren, a very special friend, Helen Sellers; and a host of nieces, nephews and friends.

A funeral will be conducted at 11 a.m. Tuesday in Mount Gilead Missionary Baptist Church in Norfolk by Pastor Shelton Murphy. Burial will be in Roosevelt Memorial Park. Riddick Funeral Service, 1225 Norview Ave., Norfolk, is in charge. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Cancer Society at (800) 227-2345 in the name of Letha A. Smith, 7639 Leafwood Drive, Norfolk, VA 23518.

Ronnie Brooks

MURFREESBORO n Ronnie “Dolls” Brooks, 51, a native of Hertford County, died March 25, 2007 at Three Rivers Nursing Home, Windsor.

A funeral was conducted Saturday at First Baptist Church Murfreesboro by the Rev. Robert Richardson III. Burial was in Carver Park Cemetery, Ahoskie. Hunter’s Funeral Home, Inc., Murfreesboro, was in charge.

Survivors include four brothers, Rev. Wayne Brooks of Maryland, Larry Brooks Sr. of Murfreesboro, Johnny Brooks of Maryland, Michael Brooks of New Jersey and Walter B. B rooks of Portsmouth, Va.; and five sisters, Mary Watson of Suffolk, Catherine Brooks of New York, Annie Brooks, Pam Brooks and Carolyn Brooks, all of Murfreesboro.

Carlease R. Roberts

DALLAS, Texas n Carlease R. Roberts, died March 27, 2007 at Plano Medical Center, Dallas.

A memorial service will be conducted at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Philippi Baptist Church, Cofield, by the Rev. William Lassiter. Reynolds Funeral Home, Inc., Ahoskie, is in charge.

Survivors include two sons, Jeff Wynn of Dallas and Dennis Wynn of Queens, NY; one daughter, Patricia D. Powell of Brooklyn; three brothers, Robert Combo of Roanoke Rapids, James Combo of Norfolk, Va., and William Combo of Cofield; six sisters, Gloria Smith of Atlanta, Ga., Garlease Keene of Long Island, Lyneete Boone of Holland, Clarice Copeland and Carolyn Combo, both of Cofield and Lorraine Hall of Franklin; nine grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

Janie P. Lewis

Janie Parker Lewis, 86, of Jackson, NC, died Sunday, April 1, 2007, after a short illness. She was born in Woodland, NC, the daughter of the late Dr. Clifton G. Parker and Mary Elizabeth “Bessie” Parker. Her beloved husband, Philip Alston Lewis, died in 1977.

Mrs. Lewis was a graduate of Meredith College, where she studied art and was elected May Queen in 1941. She studied at the Tobe Coburn Institute of Fashion Merchandising in New York, and during that time designed a hat that was featured in VOGUE Magazine. As a resident of Jackson, Mrs. Lewis was an active member of the Colonial Dames of America, the Church of the Savior, the advisory board of the Faison Senior Center, numerous book and bridge clubs, and other various local volunteer programs. In recent years, she had painted pictures of all her grandchildren’s alma maters as gifts to them.

She is survived by her three daughters, Elizabeth Lewis Abernethy and her husband, David of Washington, DC, Sallie Lewis Futrell and her husband, Bill of Jackson, and Laura Lewis Rogers and her husband, Bill of Raleigh; her sister, Helen Frances Yeargan of Raleigh; her sister-in-law, Jane Lewis Zollicoffer of Raleigh; and eight adoring grandchildren, Janie Abernethy, Tom Abernethy, Bess Futrell, Anne Futrell, Will Futrell, Laura Rogers, Kate Rogers and Mary Alston Rogers.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday, April 4, 2007, at 11 a.m. in the Church of the Savior in Jackson, with the Rev. C. Foy Bradshaw and the Rev. Duncan H. Jones officiating. Burial will follow at the church cemetery.

Friends may visit with the family from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 3, at the Lewis home on Atherton Street in Jackson.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Church of the Saviour, Jackson, NC 27845.

Arrangements are being handled by Massey Funeral Home in Jackson.

Blannie Vick

GASTON n Blannie Vick, 96, died March 28, 2007 at Guardian Care in Roanoke Rapids.

A visitation will be held from 12 noon to 1 p.m. Friday with her funeral service beginning at 1 p.m. at Oak Grove Baptist Church, Garysburg, by the Rev. Richard Battle. Interment will be in Oak Grove Baptist Church Cemetery. H.D. Pope Funeral Home, Roanoke Rapids, is in charge.