THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 27, 1995 TAG: 9511270022
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Short : 36 lines
Verna M. Christian, 77, of the 1200 block of Roosevelt Blvd., died Nov. 24, 1995.
Mrs. Christian was a member of Noble Street Baptist Church and its Deaconess Board, founder and organizer of the Junior Usher Board and former assistant church clerk. She was involved in early education in Portsmouth and was a member of the initial class of the present Norfolk State University.
Survivors include her husband, Joseph C. Christian; two daughters, Ann C. Banks of Richmond and Verna C. Croom of Woodbridge, Va.; two sons, Wendell O. Christian of Norfolk and Samuel A. Christian of Roanoke; five sisters, Mary Mills of Portsmouth, Annabelle Thomas of Kirkland, Wash., Thelma Chambers of Portsmouth, Constance Stevenson of Philadelphia and Gayle Dessaw of Somerset, N.J.; a brother, William R. Dessaw of Wenonah, N.J.; two sisters-in-law, Helen Dessaw of Wenonah, N.J., and Bertha Jefferson of Charles City, Va.; two brothers-in-law, Ernest Christian of Charles City, Va., and Alphonso Stevenson of Philadelphia; one uncle, John White of West Palm Beach, Fla.; one aunt, Gertrude Barfield of West Palm Beach, Fla.; two sons-in-law, Norman L. Banks Jr. and William B. Croom; one daughter-in-law, Brenda J. Christian; eight grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and many other relatives, friends and neighbors.
A funeral will be conducted at noon Wednesday in Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial United Methodist Church by the Rev. Bernard Thomas and the Rev. Reginald A. Earley. Burial will be in Roosevelt Memorial Park, Chesapeake. The family will be at Fisher Funeral Home from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday.
KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY by CNB