Hilda W. Purviance

Published 4:40 pm Monday, April 23, 2018

WAKEFIELD — Mary Hilda Wills Purviance, 96, a longtime resident of Wakefield, died peacefully on April 22, 2018.

Hilda W. Purviance

Born in Isle of Wight County on April 28, 1921, she was a daughter of the late Amos Floyd Wills and Mary Herrin Wills. She was the widow of Samuel Whitelock Purviance, her beloved husband of 73 years.

She is survived by two sons, Samuel Wills Purviance (Terri) and Thomas Whitelock Purviance (John Salventi;) seven grandchildren, W. Gregory Ewald, Ronald A. Ewald (Melissa,) Samuel W. Purviance II (Sunni,) Mary Alice Purviance, Felicia S. Pompa (Tony,) Amy M. Bohn (Jeremiah,) Michael L. Haselberger ( Nicole); 10 great-grandchildren; five great-great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by a sister, Carolyn W. Bryant; two brothers, Amos Floyd Wills Jr. and Alvah Herrin Wills; and a daughter-in-law, Alice Williams Purviance.

She was a 1938 graduate of Ivor High School, a 1940 graduate of Farmville State Teachers College and attended The College of William and Mary.

She became a licensed funeral director in the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1957, and along with her husband, Sam, owned and operated Purviance Funeral Home in Wakefield for nearly 50 years.

She was a past member of Tucker Swamp Baptist Church, and was an active member, choir member, Sunday School teacher and past president of the UMW of Wakefield United Methodist Church. She was past president of the Portsmouth District of the UMW.

She was a past member of the Claremont Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star and the Laurel Chapter of the OES, Waverly, was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Dames of the Court of Honor. She was a past president of the Wakefield Woman’s Club.

Friends and family are invited to pay their respects in R.W. Baker & Co. Funeral Home and Crematory, Wakefield Chapel, on Wednesday, April 25, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. There will be a private burial in Wakefield Cemetery.

The memorial service will be in Wakefield United Methodist Church on Thursday, April 26, at 1 p.m., with the Rev. Glenn Riggs officiating. Following the memorial service, a reception will be in the fellowship hall of the church.

The family suggests memorial donations be made to the Wakefield United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 87, Wakefield VA 23888-0087.

Condolences may be registered at www.rwbakerfh.com.