Laura Edna Tarver

Published 8:23 pm Thursday, October 29, 2020

Laura Edna Tarver was born in Pioneer, La., on Aug. 31, 1930. The Lord took her home, Oct. 28, 2020, 90 years later.

She and her husband, Henry “Frank” Tarver, wed in 1943. They were farmers and sharecroppers, who plowed and picked cotton to make ends meet. Their path set before them led to Delta, La., where they resided for 49 years. Edna attended Mounds Baptist Church.

Blessed beyond measure, she endured all three sons in Vietnam who all made it back safely. “Mamaw,” as she was lovingly known, saw the goodness in everyone and everything. Every person who entered her home, left with a full belly, feeling loved, and knowing they were part of the family. She was an avid reader, had a green thumb like no other, and “took her exercise” most every day. She retired from the A&P on Halls Ferry in 1995. Even in her last days, she smiled joyously and sang hymns.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Jim and Velma Centers; sisters, Mary Ruth Centers and Marie Richard; brother, Paul David Connell; husband, Frank, and son, Jimmy Tarver.

She is survived by her sister, Mary Helen Faulkner; her children, Edward (Vicky) Tarver, Evelyn Tarver, Billy (Teresa) Tarver, and (Sheila) Tarver; her grandchildren, Judy (Eddie) Welch, Christine Baum, Shannon Tarver, Sabrina Dalton, Joseph Tarver, Charlotte (Clint) Snider, Thomas Tarver, Kelly (Sedgie) Bond, Samantha Tarver, Whitney McDonald and Mary (Chance) Mosley; 22 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.

Pallbearers are Eddie Welch, Grant Welch, River Dalton, Dillon Jeffers, Joseph Tarver and Thomas Tarver. Honorary pallbearers are Shannon Tarver and Danny Paul Sanderford.

Services will be Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020, at 2 p.m. at Fisher-Riles Funeral Home, 5000 Indiana Ave. Visitation will be from Noon until the hour of service. Burial will follow at Greenlawn Gardens Cemetery.