Helen Baldwin Wolfe Evans

Helen Baldwin Wolfe Evans died Tuesday, April 21, 2009. The second child and only daughter of Dr. Thomas Kennerly Wolfe and Helen Hughes Wolfe, she was born and raised in Richmond, Va., educated atThe Collegiate School for Girls (now The Collegiate School), Sweet Briar College and, at age 50, entered Duke and earned her Master of Arts in Liberal Studies.

Upon graduation from college, she went to Cambridge Mass. and worked in the Admissions Office of Harvard Business School where she met her husband, Murphy Evans. When he finished Harvard, they moved to Raleigh, stopping in Richmond to give birth to their first child, and she realized a childhood dream of living in North Carolina where she remained for the rest of her life.

In the late 1960’s, with fear and trembling, naiveté and idealism, she ventured into the civil rights arena and worked on two small but personally powerful projects. The late Carol Caldwell encouraged her to enlist and train students for a project called Household Assistance, a short-lived but successful agency to empower household workers with skills and confidence. At the same time, she assisted local citizens to register to vote, a right that she had always taken for granted.

She loved to recall that when all four of her children attended Aldert Root Elementary School, she was elected President of the PTA – a job which mightily impressed her children but, as you all know, was a job nobody wanted and who knows how far down the list she was in the asking. However, during her tenure, she paid a visit to the Raleigh Parks and Recreation Department and, armed only with a homemade cake, asked for a playground for the school. With many thanks to the late Frank Evans (no kin) the city provided the hardscape for a playground.

For several years, the family lived in Laurinburg where she served on the library board, was a deacon and elder at Laurinburg Presbyterian Church and was a co-founder of Hospice of Scotland County.

Upon her return to Raleigh in the early 1990’s she worked as an Independent Researcher for UNC-TV and resumed her interest in the Junior League. She served on the boards of the Friends of the Library at NCSU, the North Carolina Humanities Council, the Lucy Daniels Preschool and served as an elder at White Memorial Presbyterian Church.

Helen’s service on a prison ministry introduced her to StepUP Ministry which had a special place in her heart. StepUP is a rigorous and rewarding program that provides housing, employment and educational opportunities to those who are willing and able to make changes in their lives to become self-sufficient.

Helen was a diligent gardener (she loved the flowers and the structure of the garden; vegetables never interested her, much to her husband’s regret), loved making quilts and needlepoint rugs (never sewing anything really “useful” after her two daughters refused to wear smocked dresses), kept a stack of books by her bed and all over the house, for that matter, and endeavored to exercise her belief in the value of the common good.

Her primary loves and greatest comforts were her husband and their children. She is survived by her husband, Murphy Evans and their four children: Helen Hughes Evans and husband Eric Jay Sorscher and their children Ella, Nathan and Lincoln of Birmingham, Ala.; Virginia Borden Evans and her husband Robert Steven Day and their son Samuel of Newburyport, Mass.; David Murphy Evans and his wife Anna Hall-Evans and their children Max and Lucy of Bellingham, Wash.; Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Evans and his wife Leila Taratus Evans and their children Leila and Coleman of Charlotte. A granddaughter, Esther Thompson Sorscher, who died at birth, predeceased her. Helen’s only brother, Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. lives in New York City with his wife Sheila and their children Alexandra and Tommy.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, April 24 at White Memorial Presbyterian Church, 1704 Oberlin Road, Raleigh, N.C. 27608.

In lieu of flowers, the family invites you to make a donation to a charity of your choice.

Arrangements by Bryan-Lee Funeral Home, 831 Wake Forest Rd. Raleigh, N.C.

Christine Beane Vann

Mrs. Christine Beane Vann, 77, of Old Maxton Road., Laurinburg, died Friday, April 17, at the Edwin Morgan Center.

A funeral service was held at 2 p.m. Monday at the First Baptist Church, Maxton, officiated by the Rev. Dr. Earl D. Farthing and the Rev. Carl A. Redding. Burial followed in Hillside Cemetery.

She is survived by her husband, William “Bill” Vann; two sons, Mark Vann and wife Lorie and Bill Vann, Jr. and wife Elaine of Laurinburg; a daughter, Cindy Thrower and husband Roger of Laurinburg; four sisters, Sarah Riggins and Frances Heart of Laurinburg and Agnes Rosenboro and Geneva King of Columbia, S.C.; five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Born Sept. 23, 1931 in Scotland County, she was a daughter of the late James Sidney Beane, Sr. and Amelia Yow Beane. Christine worked as a nurse at Scotland Memorial Hospital for 20 years. She had a love for flowers and birds. Christine also enjoyed cooking and painting. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Maxton where she taught the young children’s Sunday School Class and was active in the WMU.

Memorials may be made to Hospice of Scotland County, P.O. Box 1033, Laurinburg, N.C. 28353 or to the Edwin Morgan Center c/o of Scotland Memorial Hospital, Lauchwood Drive, Laurinburg, N.C. 28352.

www.mcdougald.com.

Delphine Mayshack

Ms. Delphine Mayshack, 59, of Rowland, died April 15, 2009 at McLeod Regional Medical Center in Florence, S.C. The family will receive friends Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at Jackson Chapel in Rowland from 6 to 8 p.m. Funeral services will br Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 4 p.m. at Mt. Tabor Missionary Baptist Church of Rowland. The dove ceremony and burial will follow at Cotton Valley Cemetery in Rowland. The Rev. Samuel McCormick will officiate.

She is survived by her mother, Rosie Graves of Dillon, S.C.; one son, Calvin Lee Mayshack of Rochester, Minn.; three sisters, Jerleen Purnell of Dillon, Daisy Jenkins of Marion, S.C. and Mary Margaret Brown of Raleigh; two brothers, Tony Graves of Marion and Eddie Graves of Whiteville.

Jackson Funeral Home is serving the family.

Queen Esther Sellers

Mrs. Queen Esther Sellers, 87, of 412 McKenzie St., Laurinburg, died Saturday at home. Funeral services will be held Friday, April 24 at 3 p.m. at Nethlehem Baptist Church. The Rev. Jesse Timmons will officiate. Burial will follow in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery.

Survivors are three daughters, Lee Esther Opata of Laurinburg, Eleanor McRae of Laurel Hill, and Renna Deberry of Durham; three sons, Lee Vern Sellers and Steven W. Sellers, both of Laurinburg, and Therman Sellers of Charlotte; one sister, Ida Mae Samuels, and one brother, Ulysee Williams, both of Laurinburg; 15 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; and three adopted grandchildren.

Morris Funeral Home is serving the Sellers family.

Razell D. Bridges

Mr. Razell D. Bridges, 18, of 117 Maple Leaf Drive, Hamlet, died Thursday. Funeral services will be held Thursday, April 23 at 4 p.m. at the Leak Street Cultural Center in Rockingham. Burial will follow in the Stewartsville Cemetery.

Survivors are his mother, Mary Campbell of the home; father Robbie Bridges of Bennettsville, S.C.; maternal grandmother Helen Marshall of Laurinburg; paternal grandparents Martha Bridges of Laurinburg and Robert Bridges of Bennettsville; one brother, Matthew Jackson of Laurinburg; three sisters, Celestine Jakcosn of the home, Keisha Jackson of Laurinburg, and Robreka Bridges of Florence, S.C.

Morris Funeral Home is serving the family.

Robin Elizabeth Johnson

Robin Elizabeth Johnson died April 19, 2009. Born July 11, 1958 in Queens, N.Y., she was the daughter of the late Robert Gorden and Elizabeth Stephenson Gorden. Robin graduated from Richmond Senior High School in 1976 in Rockingham. She was pursuing her degree at Richmond Community College and was inducted into the National Honors Society for Human Services. She was employed for 15 years at the Gospel Music Bookstore in Laurinburg.

In 1999, she international headlines as an interviewee of The Front Line International Christian Sales magazine. In being interviewed, she made teh front cover of the magazine. Robin served beyond walls and boundaries.

Funeral services will be April 23, 2009 at 3 p.m. at Sidney Grove Church of Deliverance in Ellerbe. Bishop Arlester Simpson will officiate. Burial will be in the church cemetery.

A public viewing will be Wednesday, April 22 from 1 to 7 p.m. at Nelson Funeral Home, located at 1021 E. Washington St. in Rockingham.

To cherish her memory, she is survived by her devoted husband, Deacon Willie M. Johnson of the home, in Rockingham; two sons, Pastor Damien Maurice Mason (Dawn) of Rockingham and Vashawn Johnson (deceased); two grandchildren, Mia and Nehemiah; two siblings, Linda Holloway (Eddie) of Raleigh and Bobby Gorden (Claudia) of Bronx, N.Y.; four brothers-in-law and two sisters-in-law, Joseph Johnson (Diane) of Rockingham, Marlboro Johnson (Imogene) of Kannapolis, Arthur Lee Johnson (Essie) of Columbia, S.C., Burnice Johnson (deceased) (Alice) of Rockingham, Addie Mae Harrington (Johnny) of Rockingham, and Betty Chambers (Richard) of Rockingham; two aunts and one uncle, Annie Mae Lebby of Orangeburg, S.C., James Stevenson of Orangeburg, and Minnie Mae Ellerbe of Rockingham; a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives and friends whom she loved and cherished; and her very very close friend Karen Bostick.

Nelson Funeral Home is serving the family.

Death Notice

Willie J. Lee

Ms. Willie J. Lee, 80, of Laurinburg, died April 21, 2009 at Morrison Manor.

Final arrangements will be announced by Jackson Funeral Home.