Marva Stephens THE CELEBRATION OF LIFE
STORY JULY 21, 1943 - JULY 4, 2019
the
Celebration of Life
Saturday, July 13, 2019 - 11 O’Clock in the Morning Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church 1220 Rev. J. L. Mills, Sr. Way - Macon, Georgia Reverend Dr. Stephen Summerow, Host Pastor THE PROCESSIONAL
Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church Mass Choir and Saint Philip A.M.E. Church Praise Team - Atlanta, Georgia “Friend Of God” - israel houghton
THE OPENING REMARKS
Reverend Dr. Stephen Summerow
THE HYMN “Hold to God’s Unchanging Hand” - jennie b. wilson THE PRAYER
Congregation
Reverend Marva Card Cleveland Grant Chapel A.M.E. Church - Macon, Georgia
THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURE Bishop Rufus Sanders Presider, Temple of God Apostolic Church of Promise - Macon, Georgia THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURE
Reverend Dr. Carolyn Williams Saint Philip A.M.E. Church - Atlanta, Georgia
THE MUSICAL TRIBUTE Saint Philip A.M.E. Church Praise Team - Atlanta, Georgia “Total Praise” - richard smallwood THE TRIBUTES as a Former Student Mrs. Gretchen Washington Gordon as a Church Member Mrs. Betty Hill as a Godsister Mrs. Ethel Burns Shockley as a College Classmate Lead Servant Eddie D. Smith, Sr. Pastor, Macedonia Baptist Church - Macon, Georgia as a Sorority Sister Mrs. Rebecca Brown Basileus, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. - Epsilon Tau Omega Chapter THE VIDEO TRIBUTE: Life Scenes of Mrs. Marva Stephens Story “Everlasting God” - william murphy The ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Marcus Pinkney Victor Pinkney Crystal Pinkney THE SILENT READING of the OBITUARY THE MUSICAL TRIBUTE Reverend Dr. Walter L. Glover, Jr. Pastor, Greater Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church - Macon, Georgia Moderator, Union Baptist Missionary and Education Association of Middle Georgia, Inc. “A Charge to Keep I Have” - charles wesley THE EULOGY
Reverend Dr. Stephen Summerow
THE RECESSIONAL Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church Mass Choir and Saint Philip A.M.E. Church Praise Team “Goin’ Up Yonder” - walter hawkins THE INTERMENT THE REPAST
Cherry Blossom Memorial Gardens 2700 Midway Road - Lizella, Georgia Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church
the
Page of Life
For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. philippians 1:21
S
eventy-five years ago on July 21, 1943, a precious bundle of joy was born to the late J.B. Stephens and Carrie Lou Bussey Stephens. This little girl was named Marva Stephens and she was the oldest of three children.
Marva attended Ada Jones Banks Elementary School and Ballard-Hudson Senior High. She graduated from Ballard-Hudson in 1961. Upon completing high school, she entered Fort Valley State College (University) where she received both her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Education degrees. She confessed Christ at an early age and joined the Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church where she served faithfully in ministry including the Usher Ministry, the Progressive Women, and the Drama Department. On June 5, 1971, Marva was united with George Herman Story in Holy Matrimony who preceded her in death. One son, Andre’, was born of this union and Marva became stepmother to Herman’s three sons: Kenneth, Herman, and Russell. She was a dedicated educator devoting over 30 years of service to enriching the lives of countless young people while teaching in the Twiggs County and Bibb County School Systems. She retired while working at the Ingram-Pye Elementary School in Macon, Georgia. Marva’s hobbies included cooking, traveling, shopping, and reading home magazines. She was a proud, longtime member of the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. - Epsilon Tau Omega Chapter and very active in many local activities. On Thursday, July 4, 2019, God’s angels came to take her home and she took flight to be with Jesus. Left to remember her fondly are: three sons, Andre’ Story and Herman Story both of Macon, Georgia, and Russell Story of St. Petersburg, Florida; nine grandchildren; one sister, JoAlveta (Emory) Allen of Stone Mountain, Georgia; one brother-in-law, Silas Humphreys (Annette) of Macon, Georgia; one special God-sister, Ethel (Steve) Shockley of Marietta, Georgia; two special cousins, Vivian (Charlie) Logan of Thomaston, Georgia and Brenda Gail Pinkney of Macon, Georgia; and a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins who will miss her dearly.
THE ROAD NOT TAKEN robert frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence; Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
Pallbearers
THE Deacons of Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church
Flower Bearers
THE Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. - Epsilon Tau Omega Chapter
Acknowledgement
THE The family of Mrs. Marva Stephens Story would like to thank everyone for your acts of kindness, condolences, phone calls, cards, visits, emails, texts, flowers and certainly prayers. The love, care, and compassion shown to us during our time of bereavement will never be forgotten. mortuary arrangements and services entrusted to:
“Middle Georgia’s TRUE Trendsetters”
HICKS & SONS MORTUARY
marcs
2233 anthony road | macon, georgia 31204 | 478-788-4300 or 478-747-9797 CHRISTOPHER
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