OTTO B. ELSWICK, 76, of Grundy, Virginia, died Friday, April 4, 1997, in Valley Health Care Center, Chilhowie. He was a native of Buchanan County and a former resident of Valley Rest Home, Meadowview. Survivors include three sisters, Dorcel Propst, Yorktown, Va., Emma Falke, Newport News, Va., and Melba Looney, Harlingen, Texas.
CARL EDWARD JUSTUS, 74, of the Brushy Fork area, Hurley, Virginia, died Saturday, April 5, 1997. He was a native and had lived all his life in Buchanan County. He was a member of the Freewill Baptist Church and was a retired coal miner. Survivors include his wife, Mrs. Emma Faye Griffey Justus; two daughters, Joan Stacy, Galax, and Nell Hardin, Grundy; two sons, Jessie Justus and Howard Justus, both of Grundy; one sister, Bessie Rife, Hurley; 15 grandchildren; and 17 great-grandchildren.
BEATRICE ANDERS, 72, of the Middle Creek section of Cedar Bluff, Virginia, died Saturday, April 5, 1997, in a Richlands, Va., hospital. She was a native of Buchanan County. Survivors include her husband, Kyle Anders; one daughter, Linda Maggard, Cedar Bluff; one foster son, Terry Clifton, St. Paul; two sisters, Mrs. Gaynell Byrd, Jacksonville, Fla., and Mrs. Josephine Smeltzer, Summerfield, Fla.; one brother, Dallas Short, Raven; three grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
BEATRICE COLEMAN OWENS, 67, of Grundy, Virginia, died Saturday, April 5, 1997, in Holston Valley Medical Center, Kingsport. She was a lifelong resident of Buchanan County. She was a member of Grundy Church of Christ and a homemaker. She was the widow of Burton Osborne Owens. Survivors include one daughter Mrs. Darlene Mullins, Grundy; four sons, Burton Eugene Owens, Grundy, Jerry Owens, Berwick, Pa., Tommy Owens, Virginia Beach, Va., and Melvin Owens, Newbergh, N.Y.; four sisters, Mae Shortridge and Lucy Looney, both of Lebanon, Gladys Blankenship, Vansant, and Sadie Peters, Defiance, Ohio; three brothers, Howard Coleman, Defiance, Ohio, Alvie Coleman, Vansant, and Herman Coleman, Bellevue, Neb.; and four grandchildren.
LEONA LYNN RICE, 16, of Maxie, Virginia, died Saturday, April 5, 1997, from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. She was a lifelong resident of Buchanan County and the daughter of Johnny W. and Rita Sue Pace Rice, Maxie. She was a member of Harman Memorial Baptist Church and an eleventh-grade student at Grundy Senior High School. Survivors, in addition to her parents, include one sister, Beverly Ann Rice, Maxie; and her paternal grandmother, Mrs. Van Rice, Breaks, Va.
VERNON TESTER, 72, of Hurley, Virginia, died Sunday, April 6, 1997. He was a lifelong resident of Buchanan County and a disabled coal miner. Survivors include his wife, Ethel Helton Tester; three daughters, Cathy St. Clair, Grundy, and Janice Shortridge and Angie Tester, both of Hurley; one son, Mike Tester, Big Rock; one brother, Wayne Tester, Hurley; nine grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.
PATRICA ANN DEEL COMPTON, 43, of the Leemaster area, Vansant, Virginia, died Tuesday, April 8, 1997. She was a native of Buchanan County and had lived there for several years. She was a member of Big Prater Baptist Church and a graduate of Haysi High School Class of 1971 and a graduate of Medical Secretaries School. She was a former employee of Grundy Hospital and Dr. Robert F. Baxter's office. She and her husband were owners and operators of Bryan's Stop and Shop General Store on Slate Creek, Grundy, and she was also a homemaker. Survivors include her husband, Tony Compton, Vansant; one son, Anthony Bryan Compton, Blacksburg, Va.; her parents, Joseph F. and Minnie A. Deel, Birchleaf, Va.; two sisters, Joan Coleman and Marcella O'Quinn, both of Birchleaf; three brothers, Jim Deel and Gallie Deel, both of Birchleaf, and Ronnie Deel, Bristol Tennessee; five nieces; two nephews and two great nieces.
TROY H. STILTNER, 63, of 31514 Old Stage Road, Glade Springs, Virginia, died Thursday, April 10, 1997, in Johnston Memorial Hospital. He was a native of Grundy, a retired coal miner and a member of Holston Valley Bible Church. Survivors include his wife, Mrs. Goldie McClanahan Stiltner; five daughters, Sandy Merritt, Karen Stiltner, Shelly Stiltner and Traci Caudill, all of Bristol Tennessee, and Donna Collins, Bristol Virginia; one son, Randall Stiltner, Bristol Tennessee; one sister, Maxine Farmer, Grundy; four brothers, Harold Stiltner, Abingdon, Eugene Stiltner and Sidney Stiltner, both of Grundy, and Fletcher Stiltner, Glade Spring; and seven grandchildren.
Mrs. PEARL COOK, 82, of the Big A Mountain section of Honaker, Virginia, passed away Friday morning, April 11, 1997, in Lebanon, Va. Born March 21, 1915, in Buchanan County, Va., she was a daughter of the late Marion and Maudie Fletcher Lambert. She had resided in Honaker for the past 50 years and was a member of the Free Christian Church on Big A Mountain. She was preceded in death by her husband, Arthur B. Cook in 1992; one son, Eugene Cook; one brother, Clyde Lambert; one sister, Ruth Coleman, and one great-grandson, Brandon Cook. Survivors include: four sons, Rev. Estel Cook of Elkton, Md., Rev. Willard Cook and Harold Cook, both of Honaker, and Roger Cook of Las Vegas, Nev.; three sisters, Helen Boyd of Honaker, Blanche Ratliff of Davenport and Bonnie Lambert of Fletcher Ridge; five brothers, Elmer Lambert of Fredericksburg, Va., Bill Lambert, Wayne Lambert and George Lambert, all of Fletcher Ridge, and Clinton Lambert of Rosedale; 18 grandchildren, five step grandchildren, several great-grandchildren and one great-great-granddaughter. Burial will be in the Cook Cemetery on Sandy Ridge, Route 2, Cleveland, Va.
ESTEL OWENS, 71, of Hazel Park,
Michigan, died Wednesday, April 9, 1997, at his home, following a
lengthy illness. A native of Buchanan County, Va., he was a son
of the late James A. and Elizabeth Sutherland Owens. He was an
elder of the Primitive Baptist Church, retired from Ford Motor
Company and was a veteran of World War II serving in the U.S.
Navy. He was preceded in death by two daughters, Ellene Gail and
Lillie Elizabeth; one son, Richard Keith Owens; four brothers,
Luther, Stanford, Earl, and his twin brother, Ersel; four
sisters, Ella, Arminda, Jewel, and Winnie Owens, and two
grandchildren. Survivors: wife, Flossie Edwards Owens of Hazel
Park; daughters, Diann Justice of Swords Creek, Va., Kay Plackard
of Hazel Park and Brenda Davis of Warren, Mich.; sons, Joe Owens
of Warren and Tim Owens of Hazel Park; sister, Molly Owens of
Douglasville, Ga.; brother, Toy Owens of Birchleaf, Va.; nine
grandchildren, one adopted grandchild and three
great-grandchildren. Burial will be in the Edwards Cemetery near
Birchleaf, Virginia.
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