William H. Vaughan

CHESAPEAKE, Va.- William Henry Vaughan, 91, a native of Gates County, died December 7, 2007. He was the widower of Nettie Sue Vaughan.

Vaughan was a charter member of Bethany Baptist Church and a member of Churchland Masonic Lodge No. 276.

Survivors include one daughter, Betty Vaughan Raymond; one grandchild; and four great-grandchildren.

A chapel service will be conducted at 1 p.m. Thursday in Sturtevant Funeral Home, Portsmouth Blvd. Chapel, by the Rev. Steve Nethery. Burial will be at Olive Branch Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Churchland Masonic Lodge No. 276 or the SPCA.

Thurman A. Jones

PORTSMOUTH, Va. – Thurman Allen Jones, 92, a native of Sunbury, died December 10, 2007.

Jones was retired from the Norfolk Naval Shipyard as a blacksmith. He worked a second career as a barber.

Survivors include a son, J. B. Jones; four grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and two brothers, Emmett Jones and O. B. Jones.

A funeral was conducted Wednesday in Sturtevant Funeral Home, Portsmouth Blvd. Chapel, by the Rev. Lee Brown. Following the service, burial was in Olive Branch Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to ACCESS College Foundation, 7300 Newport Ave., Norfolk, VA 23505, or to the charity of one’s choice in memory of Thurman Jones.

Iyana Nazyia Mack

GREENVILLE n Iyana Nazyia Mack, 10 month old daughter of Barren Kyle Mack and Shanta Alicia Parker of Greenville, died December 8, 2007 at UNC Chapel Hill Hospital.

Iyana was a native of Pitt County.

A funeral will be conducted at 1 p.m. Saturday, December 15, 2007 at Parkers Grove Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, NC, by the Rev. Fernando E. Temple, Sr., will be officiating. Burial will be in the Gatling Cemetery. Hertford County Undertakers, Winton, is in charge of arrangements.

Other survivors include her brother, Zhamir Kamau Mack of Snow Hill; maternal grandparents, Wendell and Brunet Parker of Mapleton, NC; maternal great-grandparents, Lloyd and Cleaster Grant of Murfreesboro, NC; paternal grandparents, Barren Mack of New Haven, Conn., and Denise Cofield of Edenton, NC; paternal great-grandparents, Barbara Mack of Brooklyn, NY; and Erma B. Moore of Edenton, NC; four aunts, Tashina G. Parker and Wendelin R. Parker of Decatur, Ga., Nicole Cofield of Edenton and Kynesha Mack of New Haven, Conn.; and three uncles, Nicholas Cofield and Trey Cofield of Edenton, NC and Keith Mack, also of New Haven, Conn.

Turner L. Boone

GATES n Turner L. Boone, 77, a native of Gates, died December 9, 2007 at Obici Hospital.

A funeral will be conducted at 1 p.m. Friday at New Hope Baptist Church, Gatesville, by the Rev. James K. Boone. Burial will be in the church cemetery. A viewing will be held from 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Hertford County Undertakers Chapel, Sunbury.

Survivors include his wife, Bertha R. Boone of Gates; four sons, Elvie Boone, Murray Boone, Ervin L. Boone and Tracy Boone, all of Gates; one daughter, Karen Boone Williams of Charlotte; three grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Melvin R. Lane

COFIELD – Melvin Ray Lane, 67, a native of Bertie County, died December 8, 2007 at Pitt Memorial Hospital, Greenville.

Lane was a member of Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church, Colerain. He retired from Commercial Ready Mix Products as a farmer.

Survivors include his wife, Erma Riddick Lane of the home; four sons, Melvin R. Lane Jr. of Oxen Hill, MD, William A. Lane and James Edward Lane, both of Ahoskie and Raymond R. Lane of Cofield; two daughters, Brenda Lane Jordan and Agnes Holloman Scott, both of Murfreesboro; one brother, Shelley Lane of Cofield; one sister, Rita Coleman of Queens, NY; 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

A funeral service will be conducted at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Philippi Baptist Church by Rev. Charlie Carter.

Burial will be in the church cemetery Hunter’s Funeral Home, Inc., Ahoskie is in charge.

Lula M. Shoulars

ROXOBEL n Lula May Shoulars, 55, a native of Bertie County, died December 9, 2007 at Bertie Memorial Hospital, Windsor.

A funeral will be conducted at 2 p.m. Thursday at Sandy Branch Baptist Church, Roxobel, by Apostle Willie S. Darden. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Wilder’s Funeral Home, Inc., Aulander, is in charge.

She was a homemaker.

Survivors include a daughter, Raven Bell of Roxobel; a sister, Sandra Casper of Tarboro; and a brother, Johnny Shoulars of North Carolina.

Virginia G. Speight

CHESAPEAKE, Va. – Virginia Griggs Speight, 78, a native of Gates County, died December 10, 2007, in her residence. She was the widow of Emmett M. Speight Jr.

Mrs. Speight was a member of Churchland Assembly of God.

Survivors include two sons, Rick C. Speight of Carrollton and Barry E. Speight of Chesapeake; two brothers, Joseph Griggs and Leslie Griggs, both of Suffolk; and two grandchildren.

A graveside service will be conducted at 3 p.m. Thursday in Olive Branch Cemetery by the Rev. Larry O’Brien. Sturtevant Funeral Home, Portsmouth Blvd. is in charge. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Arthritis Foundation, Virginia Chapter, 281 Independence Blvd., Virginia Beach, VA 23455.

Lucy M. Wheaton

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Lucy M. &uot;Grand Lu&uot; Wheaton, 81, a native of Guntersville, Ala., died December 7, 2007. She was the widow of William Wheaton.

Mrs. Wheaton was a member of Mount Olive Baptist Church, Virginia Beach.

Survivors include five daughters, Barbara Edwards, Paulette Wheaton and Jacqueline Wheaton, all of Virginia Beach, Sarah Raggs of Hampton and Linda Pope of Cofield; three sons, Leroy Wheaton, Robert Wheaton and Jackie Wheaton, all of Virginia Beach; two sisters, Ruth Warren of Detroit, Mich., and Earline Nee Smith of Guntersville; 21 grandchildren; and 25 great-grandchildren.

A funeral will be conducted at noon Thursday at Mount Olive Baptist Church, Virginia Beach, by the Rev. Lamont D. Brown. Interment will be in Colonial Grove Memorial Park. Community Funeral Home, Virginia Beach Chapel, is in charge.

Hubert Wood Jr.

MURFERESBORO n Hubert Wood Jr., 68, a native of Hertford County, died December 9, 2007 at Roanoke-Chowan Hospital, Ahoskie.

A funeral will be conducted at 11 a.m. Friday at New Beginnings Baptist Church, Murfreesboro, by the Rev. Shirley Johnson. Burial will be in Carver Park Cemetery. Hertford County Undertakers, Winton, is in charge.

Survivors include one son, Hubert Jordan of Beacon, NY; one daughter, Gloria Shular of Beacon; seven brothers, Johnny Lassiter of Newport News, Va., Hilton Lassiter of Philadelphia, Billy Lassiter and James Lassiter, both of Jackson, Elmer Lassiter of South Carolina, Minister Chris Lassiter of Richmond and Ben Lassiter of Benson; seven sisters, Dorothy Lassiter of New York, Mildred Faison of Jackson, Kathy Brown of Murfreesboro, Carolyn James of Seaboard, Clora Hinton and Martha Lassiter, both of Garysburg and Naomi Vaughan of Georgia; and three grandchildren.

Dolores C. Benjamin

Dolores Collins Benjamin, 94, whose parents were born in Winton, died November 27, 2007 in the Ashbrook Nursing Home in Scotch Plains, N.J.  She was 94.

Mrs. Benjamin was the subject of the recently published book, Sounds of Music: The Dolores Collins Benjamin Story, which documents her  history and that of the North Jersey Philharmonic Glee Club.  Founded in her Newark, N.J. home in 1939, the all-male African-American choral group is one of the nation’s longest continuously performing ensembles of its kind.

Mrs. Benjamin was a musical prodigy who began playing piano at age eight at Central Baptist Church in Berkley.  After graduating from   Booker T. Washington High School in Norfolk in 1930, she entered Virginia State College in Petersburg, Va., where she came under the influence of some of the most important educators of her era, including Luther P. Jackson, an early civil rights leader, and Undine Smith Moore, who was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in musical composition. She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority for 75 years.

Mrs. Benjamin’s husband, Joe Benjamin, was a noted jazz bassist. He died in 1974 after spending twenty-five years as Duke Ellington’s copyist. He also toured extensively with Ellington and other jazz greats, including Sarah Vaughan, Dave Brubeck, and Gerry Mulligan.

Mrs. Benjamin was interred beside her husband and mother in Hollywood Cemetery in Union Township, N.J., where she lived for many years. Her survivors include her cousin, Odell Reynolds Robinson, proprietor of the Reynolds Funeral Home and a second cousin, Sedonia Jones, both of Ahoskie.

Gabriella Singletary

CAMDEN – Gabriella “Billy Gay” McDowell Singletary, 71, loving wife, mother, grandmother and friend to many, of 129 Marlas Way, Camden, NC died Tuesday, December 11, 2007, at Albemarle

Hospital.

Mrs. Singletary was born in Norfolk, VA, the daughter of the late William P. McDowell, Jr. and Gabriella VanPatton McDowell and was the wife of Gene P. Singletary.

She was a retired school teacher, having taught for 28 years and a member of Shiloh Baptist Church.

Besides her husband, Mrs. Singletary is survived by three daughters, Gay Singletary of Charlottesville, VA, Cornelia Singletary of Rocky Mount, NC, and Suzanne Newbern and husband Caroll of Colerain, NC; one son, G. Page Singletary and wife Cathy of Austin, TX; grandchildren Sally, Emily, and Lucy Singletary of Austin, TX and Matthew Cutshall of Charlottesville, VA. four brothers, William “Pat” McDowell of Elizabeth City, NC, Charlie McDowell of Wilmington, DE, Archie B. McDowell of Virginia Beach, VA, and Woody McDowell of Virginia Beach, VA.

Memorial services will be Friday, December 14, 2007, at 11:00 AM in Shiloh Baptist Church by Rev. David Combs.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Shiloh Baptist Church, P.O. Box 31, Shiloh, NC 27974 or a charity of choice. The family will receive friends in the fellowship hall of the church immediately following the service and at all other times they will be at the residence.

You may sign the on line register at www.twifordfh.com.

252-335-4395.