U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
PLOTZ
Frank "Evan" Plotz, 39, died unexpectedly on Tuesday, October 24, 2000 at MCV Hospital. Evan is deeply loved and survived by Sheila K. Plotz, wife and mate of 14 years; 4 year old twin daughters, Hayley and Kensey of Mechanicsville, Va., and Amanda, 18, of Evanville, Ind.; brothers, Kenneth, Richmond, Va., Edward and Alan, both of Lanexa, Va.; sisters, Rachel of Afton, Va. and Holly of Lanexa, Va.; mother, Suzanne Whitt and stepfather, James Whitt; in-laws, Walter and Hazel Galusky; grandparents, Laura Bartlett, George Bartlett and Patricia Plotz. Memorial service will be held on Friday, November 3, 1 p.m., his fortieth birthday, at Osborne Boat Landing, Osborne Turnpike, Richmond, Va. Flowers received at home or donations in lieu to Plotz daughters’ college fund.
RATLIFF
Robert Lee Ratliff Jr. of Hopewell, departed this life October 24, 2000. Surviving are two daughters, Katrina Lewis and Kathy Lewis of Richmond; four grandchildren, Nayshaw Lewis, Kenneth Lewis, Wednesday Fuller and Kori Fuller, all of Richmond; mother, Mrs. Elsie S. Ratliff of Hopewell; four sisters, Mrs. Wanda Rose Pope (Joe) of Maryland, Mrs. Catherine Lewis (Levi, very devoted) of Hopewell, Mrs. Bernadine
Jones of Chester and Ms. Retha Ratliff of Chester; an aunt, two uncles and other relatives. A funeral service will be Saturday, October 28, 2000 from the Chapel of Turner-Bland Funeral Home, Hopewell. Interment will be in Riverview Cemetery, Richmond.
ROBERTSON
Alma
Smith Robertson came into this world on May 25, 1930 and God called her home October 23, 2000. Alma had a son who proceeded her in death, Sterling Archer "Man" Smith. She leaves in God’s care, three sons, Robert Jr., Alvin Lee, and Curtis Dean Robertson; one daughter, Brenda "Ann" Fenner, four grandsons, four granddaughters, all of Richmond, Va.; four great-grandsons, and three great-grandaughters, all of Richmond, Va.; two brothers, Willie "Buster"
Smith of Richmond, Va. and James T.
Smith of Pennsburg, Pa.; three sisters, Mary J. Warren, Isabell Pleasant and Lizzie "Kate" Smith, all of Richmond, Va.; and a host of nephews, nieces, cousins and friends. Mrs. Georgia Mae Brockington was a devoted friend and Rev. Keith Russell Lee was loved as a son. Remains rest at the Mimms Funeral Home, 19th and Hull Sts., where the family will receive friends, Friday (today) 6 to 7 p.m. Funeral services will be held Saturday, October 28, 12 noon from the Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, 1223 N. 25th St. Rev. Darrell Husband, Pastor, Rev. Keith Russell Lee, officiating. Interment in Washington Memorial Park, Sandston, Va. After 11 a.m. Saturday, remains will rest in the above named church until hour of service. Relatives and friends attending funeral services, assemble at the church Saturday, 11:30 a.m.
SMITH
Martha Leake Stokely Smith, of Richmond, died Friday, October 20, 2000. The widow of Otis David Smith, she is survived by her two children, Lauriston Davis of Richmond and O. David
Smith Jr. of Arlington. The only child of the late Mr. and Mrs. William A. Stokely, she was born in Norfolk in 1919 and moved to this city in 1923. She graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School and studied fashion illustration at Richmond Professional Institute. After her marriage in 1940, Mrs.
Smith lived in Virginia Beach while her husband was stationed at Fort Story, then returned to Richmond when he left for service in Europe. In 1950, the family moved to northern Virginia where Mrs.
Smith was a member of the Springfield Acres Garden Club and lectured on flower arranging throughout the Washington area in the 1960s. In 1978, the Smiths retired in Richmond where she was a member of the Second Presbyterian Church and The Woman’s Club, and was a former member of the Country Club of Virginia and a former volunteer at Richmond Metropolitan Hospital. Interment at Hollywood Cemetery will be private. On Saturday, October 28, at 11:30 a.m., a memorial service will be held at the Second Presbyterian Church, 5 North 5th Street, where the family will receive friends afterwards. Memorial contributions may be made to Second Presbyterian Church, the Children’s Home Society of Virginia, 4200 Fitzhugh Avenue, Richmond, Va. 23230, or the charity of your choice.
SPEARS
Billye Chappelle Spears, 82, of Roanoke, passed away Thursday, October 26, 2000. Mrs. Spears was a charter member of Windsor Hills United Methodist Church. She was the office manager for several area dentists over the years, lastly working for Dr. Hayley’s office. She had volunteered for a number of years at Roanoke Community Hospital. She was also an avid golfer and tennis player. She is survived by her devoted husband of 55 years, George H. Spears of Roanoke; a son and daughter-in-law, W. Randolph and Denise M. Spears of Richmond; grandchildren, Matthew L. and Elisabeth M. Spears of Richmond; three sisters, Jacqueline Everett of Richmond, Maxine Callaham of Richmond and Evelyn Bricker of Atlanta, Ga. A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 28, 2000 at Windsor Hills United Methodist Church with Dr. William Burrough officiating. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to Windsor Hills United Methodist Church. Oakey’s South Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
SWANN
Mrs. Viola D. Swann departed this life October 26, 2000. The staff of W.S. Watkins & Son Funeral Home is serving her family.
TURNER
Mrs. Blanche S. Turner of Richmond entered eternal rest October 23, 2000. She is survived by her sister-in-law, Lillian
Brown of Brooklyn, N.Y.; one niece, Adell Banks of Boston, Mass.; devoted friends, Ora Miles, Eulalia Bobbitt, Barbara Fields and family; a host of other friends. Remains may be viewed at Joseph Jenkins Jr. Funeral Home, 2011 Grayland Ave., Richmond, Friday after 10 a.m. Funeral Saturday, 12 noon in Mosby Memorial Baptist Church, 2901 Mechanicsville Turnpike, Richmond. Rev. Barry T. Young, pastor, officiating. Interment Roselawn Memory Gardens. Remains will rest in church one hour prior to funeral service. The Dabneys’ Morticians in charge of arrangements.
URQUHART
Michael P. Urquhart, age 49, of Louisa, died Tuesday, October 24, 2000 in Belleville, N.J. He was the beloved son of Evelyn and the late John Urquhart. He is survived by three sisters, Carol Dunnigan of Leesburg, Bonnie Pitt of Daytona Beach, Fla. and Deborah Seay of Fredericksburg; and one brother, John Urquhart Jr. of Louisa. Funeral services will be held at noon on Saturday, October 28 at St. Judes Catholic Church in Louisa. Interment will be at Hillcrest Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, October 27 at Woodward Funeral Home in Louisa. The family asks that any contributions be made to Louisa County Fire Companies, Rescue Squads or your local chapters of Habitat for Humanity.
VAUGHAN
Mrs. Dorothy J. (Grandma Pudding) Vaughan of Midlothian, Va., departed this life Thursday, October 26, 2000. Remains rest at the Mimms Funeral Home, 19th and Hull Sts. Funeral notice later.
WHITE
Rev. Percy D. White, 89, of Richmond, died October 24, 2000. He was the widower of Virginia Bevins Gilliam White and is survived by his children, Percy D. (Danny) White Jr., Maude Wilkinson and Beth Brownstein and their mother, Maude White; grandchildren, Christopher and Jonathan White, Meredeth and Ben Brownstein; stepchildren, Dr. Darrell K. Gilliam, Ermanell Pauley, Damaris Llewellyn, Laurel Rieks and Carole Chase; and 23 stepgrandchildren. Rev. White served as a minister for 38 years in the Virginia United Methodist Conference. He graduated from Emory & Henry College in 1935 with an AB degree and from Duke Divinity School in 1938 with a BD degree. His remains rest at the Bliley Funeral Home’s Chippenham Chapel, 6900 Hull Street Rd., where the family will receive friends 6 to 8 p.m. Friday. Funeral services will be held 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Belmont United Methodist Church followed by interment in Dale Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Percy D. and Virginia B. White Pre-Ministerial Scholarship Fund, c/o the Development Office of Emory & Henry College, P.O. Box 950, Emory, Va. 24327-0950.
WILLIAMS
Departed this life October 26, 2000, Luvenia Edna
Williams of 716 So. Nansemond St. Remains rest at Joseph Jenkins Jr. Funeral Home, 2011 Grayland Ave. Funeral notice later.
WILLIAMS
Evelyn S.
Williams of Alberta died October 25, 2000 at MCV Hospitals after a well-fought battle with cancer. She is survived by her husband, J.D.
Williams of Alberta; a son, Don
Williams of Boydton; a daughter, Jayne Yancey of Halifax; two sisters, Barbara
Johnson of Henrico, N.C. and Cyrena Hampton of Miami, Fla.; and one grandson, Robert Blake Yancey; and a stepmother, Ann Hampton of Miami, Fla. Mrs.
Williams was a realtor and a member of McKenny Baptist Church. She was also a former member of Town Council of Alberta as well as former town clerk and treasurer. Funeral services will be conducted Saturday, October 28 at 2 p.m. by Rev. Charles Young at Farrar Funeral Chapel with interment to follow at Bethel Methodist Cemetery in Alberta. The family will receive friends Friday evening from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Farrar Funeral Home. Condolences may be emailed to farrar@msinets.com. Farrar Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.
WILLIAMS
Mr. Jesse J.
Williams Jr. (J.J./Old Fossil) of Mangohick, Va., son of the late Jesse J.
Williams Sr. and Anna May
Williams Reeves, was born January 11, 1944 in Utica, N.Y. He departed this life October 23, 2000. He is survived by his wife of 31 years, Colleen L. Turner Williams; children, Jesse J.
Williams III (Patricia), New York, Army Sgt. Terry L.
Williams (Kim) of West Germany and New York, Angelique L., Spencer L. and Angelica L.
Williams of Mangohick; a stepdaughter, Cheryl Green, New York; grandchildren, Erwin Lester, Danielle Marie, Tanytta Louise, Noah and Zachary Williams, all of New York; brother, Milton Reeves, New York; sisters, Margaret Jackson (Lucius), Maryland, May E. Williams, Pennsylvania, Elnora Jackson (Willard), Illinois, Christine A. Reeves, New York; one aunt, Eliza M. Turner (Theoplis), New York; two great-aunts, Cornelia M. Montague, his Richmond mother, and Beulah M. Fox, Richmond; sister-in-law, Cheryl T. Carter; brother-in-law, Oscar Turner Jr. (Charmeine); father and mother-in-law, Oscar Turner Sr. and Rose M. Turner; many nieces, nephews; hundreds of cousins, among them a very devoted, loving cousin and advisor, Doris M. Vaughan; other relatives and friends; a special friend, Reginald Jarrett; and his many friends from Philip Morris, and the Mangohick and King William Volunteer Fire and Rescue Squads. He was a Vietname War veteran and a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. His remains rest at W.S. Watkins & Son Funeral Home. After 10 a.m. Saturday, his remains will rest in Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church, 1720 Mechanicsville Turnpike, where funeral services will be conducted at 11 a.m. Rev. Rodney Hunter officiating. Interment Signal Hill Memorial Park. Family may be contacted at 644-6212 and 994-5506.
WINSTON
Entered into eternal life October 21, 2000, Deaconess Joyce Edwards Winston of 519 Musket Dr., Williamsburg, Va. She was preceded in death by her brother, King; and father, Kirby Edwards. Left to cherish her memory are her devoted husband, Deacon Ronald Winston; nephew and surrogate son, Brandon Grandison; mother, Mrs. Estelle E. Edwards; three sisters, Madames Dorothy Winningham, Brenda Esters and Margaret Isler; four brothers, Kirby, Bennie, Bishop Lindberg and Calvin Edwards; nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, other relatives and friends. Reposing at the Scott-Lightfoot Funeral Home, 3021 "N" St., where the family will receive friends Friday, October 27, 7 to 8 p.m. Funeral services will be held Saturday, 1 p.m. at the St. John Holy Church, 1507 N. 28th St. Bishop Albert Augson, pastor. Eulogy by Bishop Ralph E. Love of Greenville, N.C. Interment Dale Memorial Park. Her remains will lie in state at the above-named church from 11 a.m. until hour of service. The family may be contacted by phoning (804) 276-0874.
Dewey E. Ritter dies at 72
Aug 15, 2001
In 1978, a youthful-looking Dewey E. Ritter mused that he had been picking and singing country music longer than any other Richmond area group.
"I don't know of any other local person now playing who was into it before I started with my band," he said in a Richmond News Leader interview.
Mr. Ritter, a Chesterfield County native who headlined and was master of ceremonies for six years on WTVR/Channel 6's "Dewey Ritter and the Country Music Time Show" and played on radio and television with the New Dominion Barn Dance, died Sunday at his Chesterfield home after a brief illness. He was 72.
From 1962 to 1968, he emceed "Dewey Ritter and the Country Music Time Show" on Channel 6. The show opened with dancing by "The Panhandle Cowgirls," a streamer identifying the show and Mr. Ritter welcoming his audience.
"He had a rough type of cowboy voice. He patterned himself after Nashville great Ernest Tubb and he sounded just about like him," said his son, Alan Ritter of Midlothian. His backup bands included "The Panhandle Cowboys (and Cowgirls at one time)," "Country Cavaliers," "The Fantastic Five" and "Wild Country."
Mr. Ritter was a regular on the New Dominion Barn Dance, the successor to the Old Dominion Barn Dance, which aired from 1946 to 1957 in the WRVA Radio Theater lineup. The two generations of the Virginia barn dance constituted the third-oldest such show in the nation and by 1962 had played to more than 2 million listeners.
Dewey Ritter and the Country Cavaliers, as his band was called in this period, picked and sang with the likes of performers such as Shirlee Hunter, Pete Pike, Chief Powhatan, "Lillie Belle," Fred Newton, Red Steed and the Smokey Mountain Boys.
In 1957, the New Dominion Barn Dance began giving two weekly Saturday evening shows at the old Lyric Theater, and later at the old Bellevue Theater after the Lyric was demolished in 1963. The show had a cast of regulars plus featured guests from the Grand Ole Opry.
"Dad had written a number of songs over the years and had sold quite a few singles. He recorded for Coral Records, a subsidiary of Decca Records," his son said.
Trademark songs included "Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain," "Goodtime Lover," and "For the Good Times."
Mr. Ritter worked as a certified public accountant and as comptroller for Richmond Restaurant Service to put bread on the table for a growing family. At night, he played music.
But there was one thing much more important than country music: family. Mr. Ritter was invited to move to Nashville to perform with big-name country musicians but declined because his family lived in the Richmond area and he didn't want to leave his family, his son said.
When he wasn't working or playing music, he spent time with his family. While he was playing music at night during the 1940s at the former Railey's Department Store on Broad Street, he met Mary Ann Scaggs, who became his wife about six months later.
Mrs. Ritter, who at one time was a "Panhandle Cowgirl" dancer, died in 1985.
Survivors also include two other sons, Troy Ritter of Midlothian and Robin Ritter of Matoaca, and a brother, Peter Ritter of Deltaville.
A funeral will be held Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Joseph W. Bliley Funeral Homes' Chippenham Chapel, 6900 Hull Street Road. Burial will be in Dale Memorial Park.
Robert Wayne Lucas, inmate, dies
Aug 01, 2003
Robert Wayne Lucas, a former tavern manager who was convicted of the April 1977 murders of five people at 137
Green Acres Ave., died Tuesday in a local hospital.
Mr. Lucas, 61, had been serving five consecutive life sentences at Powhatan Correctional Center, where he was a prison printer.
Survivors include his wife, Tobbie Lee Lucas; four daughters, Robin Sapp, Tracy Lucas, Toni Engerson and Terri Lucas; a son, Robert Lucas; a sister, Hazel Thomas; and six grandchildren.
A funeral will be held Friday at 11 a.m. at Bethel Baptist Church, 1100 Huguenot Springs Road, Midlothian. Burial will be in the church cemetery.
Georgia Shank Vance dies at 94
Nov 21, 2002
military wife Georgia Shank Vance once made a deal with her Fort Eustis neighbor, Georgia Fuson: I'll teach you to bird-watch if you'll teach me to dry flowers.
Both novices, they began researching the art of drying flowers using sand. Soon their exquisite dried floral arrangements were in demand for the DAR Room at Constitution Hall, at Woodlawn, Gunston Hall and many other historic and fine homes in Washington and Virginia.
When Fuson moved to Hawaii, Mrs. Vance went solo, eventually becoming one of the country's foremost authorities on dried flowers.
Mrs. Vance, whose floral arrangements graced the diplomatic reception rooms at the U.S. Department of State and many historic homes for more than 35 years, died Sunday in a Bridgewater retirement home. She was 94 and had lived at Short Glade Farm in Mount Solon until her health began to fail.
People walking up to her arrangements of lilies, roses and mums in the diplomatic reception rooms often asked, "Are these real?" The answer was "Yes, and they're very fragile," said her son, James D. Vance Jr., of Hoboken, N.J.
In her later years Mrs. Vance teamed up with Virginia Guild, who took over the arrangements for the State Department. Mrs. Vance was still helping as recently as three years ago.
A memorial service will be Dec. 7 at 1:30 p.m. at Short Glade Farm, a 104-acre historic home she and her husband purchased after he retired.
"She put in acres of gardens," her son said. "There are formal gardens on the west side of the house. She had a rose garden, topiary, vegetables, a natural area, herbs. She loved beautiful things."
Mrs. Vance, a Harrisonburg native and Hood College graduate, lectured and conducted workshops at the farm. "She taught classes in herbs for chefs. She trained more people in the Shenandoah Valley that went on to do other things," said Fuson, now of Williamsburg.
A purist when it came to flower-drying technique, Mrs. Vance wrote "The Decorative Art of Dried Flower Arrangement," a book that received the Helen S. Hull Award for Literary Horticultural Interest from the National Council of State Garden Clubs. Published in 1973, it described the historical art of drying flowers as well as the process of doing it.
Her many awards included the American Horticultural Society's 1990 Frances
Jones Poetker Award, the Garden Club of America's 1995 Katharine Thomas Cary Medal and Hood College Distinguished 1999 Alumna of the Year Award.
Her husband of 38 years, retired Army Col. James Davis Vance Sr., died in 1974.Survivors include another son, J. Peter Vance, of Richmond; a brother, Charles Daniel Shank Jr., of Mount Solon; two grandchildren and one great-grandson.
