Elizabeth Gurley Overman

Pikeville- Elizabeth Gurley Overman, 92, of Gurley Dairy Road passed away Sunday morning, April 07, 2019 at the Brian Center of Goldsboro.

Funeral service will be held Tuesday at 11 a.m. in the chapel of Shackleford-Howell Funeral Home in Fremont.  Burial will follow at Evergreen Memorial Cemetery in Princeton.  The family will receive friends prior to the service from 10 until 10:45 a.m. at the funeral home.

Mrs. Overman was born in Wayne County on June 28, 1926 to the late Andrew and Lizzie Deans Gurley.  She was a member of Nahunta Friends Meeting and very active in the Nahunta community doing volunteer work while her health permitted.  She loved gardening, working in her yard and also enjoyed feeding and watching her birds.

She held many jobs over the years, from sales at Montgomery Ward, hauling milk for Gurley Dairy, to working at Nahunta Farm Sausage, While living in Greenville NC in the early 70's she finally fulfilled her dream of becoming a nurse. She attended Pitt Community College and earned a certificate as a Surgical Technician after which she was employed at Pitt Memorial Hospital. After returning to Wayne County she was employed  at Grantham Medical Clinic. She went on from there to work for local veterinarian, Dr. Plumber. She also worked for a while doing insurance exams for Equifax. Eventually she took over running Gurley Store from her brother, Molton Gurley, and at the same time took on a paper route with the News & Observer, which she ran faithfully for 15 years until retiring.

Among her many accomplishments, perhaps her greatest were as a loving wife, mother, grandmother, care giver, and homemaker. And she was always willing to reach out to her neighbors to lend a helping hand.

She is survived by two sons, Larry Overman and wife, Lou Ann of Pikeville and John Overman and wife, Lynette of Pikeville; one daughter, Diane Jefferson and husband, Jeff Wells of Pikeville; six grandchildren, Donnie Pearce, Melissa Showman, Albon Overman, Nathan Overman, Matthew Overman and wife, Samantha and Megan Braswell and husband, Michael and nine great-grandchildren.

In addition to her parents, Mrs. Overman was preceded in death by her husband, Thomas Quentin Overman; three brothers, Foster Gurley, Molton Gurley and Russell Gurley and a special friend, Billy Lee.

The family is in the care of Shackleford-Howell Funeral Home in Fremont.

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