Nellie Essex, Emporia
The funeral for longtime Emporia resident Nellie Essex will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. James Missionary Baptist Church. The Rev. Michael Moore will conduct the service. Burial will be in Maplewood Cemetery. Friends may call from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday at the Roberts-Blue-Barnett Funeral Home.
Memorial contributions to St. James Missionary Baptist Church may be sent in care of the funeral home, P.O. Box 175, Emporia, KS 66801.
Mrs. Essex died Monday, Jan. 7, 2008, at the Holiday Resort where she was a resident. She was 87.
She taught for 20 years in Nevada, Mo., and Dunlap and later in the Head Start program in Emporia before she retired 15 years ago.
The daughter of Charles and Bernice Barnes Evans, she was born April 5, 1920, at Emporia. She graduated from Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia with a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree in early childhood education and a specialist degree.
She married Mark Henry O. Essex at Emporia. He died June 17, 1988.
Mrs. Essex was a member of St. James Missionary Baptist Church. She also was a member of Naomi Chapter 13 of the Order of the Eastern Star.
She is survived by two sons, Ben Essex of Emporia and Timothy Essex of Waterloo, Iowa; two daughters, Penny Fox and Joyce Gamblin, both of Waterloo, Iowa; 13 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren. One son, Mark James Essex; and three brothers died earlier.