Jennifer Whitaker

ROANOKE RAPIDS n Jennifer Whitaker, 17, died May 4, 2008 at Halifax Regional Medical Center.

A visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at Enfield Chapel of Lea & Pope Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held at 12 noon Saturday at Shiloh Baptist Church, Scotland Neck, by the Rev. Hoyt Cooper. Interment will be in the Staton Cemetery after the service.

H.D. Pope Funeral Home is in charge.

Bernice B. Askew

POWELLSVILLE n Bernice Banks Askew, 90, of the 3300 block of Hwy 13 North, died Monday, May 5, 2008, in Roanoke Chowan Hospital, Ahoskie.

Mrs. Askew was born in Hertford County, a daughter of the late Bernard Chesley and Ella Mae Garrett Barnes.  She worked as bookkeeper for B & B Truck Lines and was a member of Powellsville United Methodist Church.

Left to cherish her memory are her daughters, Emily Askew Shinaberry and husband, Ted H. of Richmond, VA, Glenda Askew Basnight and husband, Alvin C. of Colerain, NC; grandchildren, Wendy Shinaberry Brooks and husband, Bill, Ted H. Shinaberry, Jr. and wife, Patty, and Holly Basnight White and husband, Charlie; and great grandchildren, Garrett Brooks, Spencer Brooks, Sarah Brooks, Jake Shinaberry and Savannah Shinaberry.  Besides her husband, William Fleetwood Askew, Bernice was predeceased by a brother, Bernard C. Banks, Jr.

A celebration of life service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 8, 2008, at Garrett Funeral Home-Ashley Chapel, 205 NC Highway 42 West, Ahoskie.  Burial will follow in Highland Memorial Gardens.  The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 7:00 until 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, and other times at the home.

Melissa N. Swank

AHOSKIE n Melissa Noelle Swank, 29, a native of Hampton, Va., died May 4, 2008, at Roanoke Chowan Hospital, Ahoskie.

Miss Swank was a billing specialist for Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center.

Survivors include her parents William and Patricia Barrett Swank of Ahoskie, two sisters, Jennifer Swank Jones and April Swank Matthews, both of Aulander, and her paternal grandmother, Hilda Webb Swank of Ahoskie.

A celebration of life service will be conducted at 3 p.m. on Thursday at Union United Methodist Church by the Rev. Sandy Outlaw.  Burial will be in Job Cemetery, Aulander. The family will receive friends at the church from 12:30 until 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, prior to services.  Garrett Funeral Home-Ashley Chapel, Ahoskie, is in charge.

Gloria Hendricks

ROANOKE RAPIDS n Gloria Hendricks, 54, died May 3, 2008 at Halifax Regional Medical Center, Roanoke Rapids.

A visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday in the Roanoke Rapids Chapel of H.D. Pope Funeral Home. Funeral services will be conducted at 3 p.m. Saturday at Lighthouse of Deliverance Church of Christ, Roanoke Rapids, by Elder James T. Easter and Pastor J.C. Kelly. Interment will be in Crestview Cemetery.

William S. Bowser

CONWAY n William Scott “Buck” Bowser, 72, a native of Northampton County, died May 6, 2008 at his residence.

Bowser was a retired forklift driver with Georgia-Pacific in Conway.

Survivors include his children, Eugene Bowser of

Philadelphia, PA, Majorie Joyner of Ahoskie, Gregory Bowser of

Florida, Jerome Bowser

of Potecasi, Robert Bowser of Conway,

Pamela B. Williams of

Greenville, Phillip Bowser of Maryland and Wanda B. Cofield of Ahoskie; brothers, Qulie Bowser, Henderson Bowser, Issac Bowser, and Robert Bowser; sisters, Mary Edwards and Edna Boone, both of Conway; and 18 grandchildren.

A funeral will be conducted at 2 p.m. Saturday at Second Baptist Church Potecasi. Burial will be in the Bowser family cemetery. Wilder’s Funeral Home Inc., Rich Square, is in charge.