Tag: Funeral

Former W.Va. NAACP President Jim Tolbert Has Died

A long-time advocate for civil rights among African-Americans in West Virginia has passed away.

James Alvin Tolbert Sr, passed away last week in hospice care in Kearneysville. He was 85.

Tolbert served as President of the West Virginia branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, from 1986 to 2007. He was a Life Member of the organization and chaired Region III, which covered seven states including West Virginia.

He also worked in the medical field for several years as both a medical and nuclear medical technologist.  

He’s been recognized for numerous local, state, and national services, earning various awards and recognition in the name of civil and human rights.

Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017, at Eackles-Spencer & Norton Funeral Home, 256 Halltown Road, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425.

The funeral service will be held 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017, at Zion Episcopal Church, 301 East Congress St., Charles Town, WV 25414.

In lieu of flowers, it is suggested that donations be made to Hospice of the Panhandle, 30 Hospice Lane, Kearneysville, WV 25430.

W.Va. Indigent Burial Program Exhausts Funds

State funding to pay for indigent burials in West Virginia has run out five months before the end of the fiscal year, an official for a funeral directors group said.

Frederick Kitchen, West Virginia Funeral Directors Association president, told The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register that an increase in drug overdose deaths is to blame.

Kitchen said the Department of Health and Human Resources sets aside about $2 million annually for burial costs for indigent people. Funeral homes are offered $1,250 to cover individual burial expenses for low-income people.

“We’ve got five months with no money available,” Kitchen said. “Funeral directors do what they can, but this creates a hardship for a lot of funeral homes.”

Kitchen said the number of drug overdose deaths also has put a burden on the state medical examiner’s office, which often takes up to three weeks to complete autopsies.

Gene Fahey, vice president at Altmeyer Funeral Homes which operates facilities in West Virginia, Ohio and Virginia, said drug addiction deaths have “exploded” over the past five years.

Eric Fithyan, funeral director and planner for James and Chambers funeral homes in the Northern Panhandle, said parents or grandparents will spend a fortune on a child or grandchild who is fighting an addiction.

“Then they can’t have the funeral they want because they spent all their finances on the child or grandchild,” Fithyan said. “In some cases they are taking care of the addict’s children who have become wards of the state . It’s almost a form of elder abuse.”

Funeral director James Kepner in Wheeling said the toll of the drug epidemic is not confined to one age group.

“We have seen 50 to 80-year-olds who have overdosed,” Kepner said. “It’s not just the young people.”

Kepner said the most difficult time for families dealing with this particular type of death is after they leave the funeral service.

“That’s when they starting asking ‘why?'” Kepner said.

Services for Former First Lady Shelley Moore Announced

Shelley Riley Moore, the former first lady of West Virginia for 12 years and mother of Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, has died. She was 88.

Moore was born in Florida and met her husband, future Gov. Arch Moore, while she attended West Virginia University.

After graduating from college, she worked as a schoolteacher, and then she became a full-time mother and partner in her husband’s political career, first as a congressman, and later governor.

She served as first lady from 1969 to 1977 and 1985 to 1989, when her husband lost re-election amid corruption allegations.

In a statement, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito and her siblings remember their mother’s warmth and charm:

“Our mother was a wonderful, warm, and loving person. She loved us and our children intensely, and she passionately loved her husband Arch, with whom she shared a beautiful marriage of 65 years. “Mom matched an uplifting sense of humor with a genuine ability to listen and connect, traits that made everyone around her know they mattered. “She was an ardent fan of West Virginia University, especially its marching band, the Pride of West Virginia. She was deeply honored to serve as First Lady of West Virginia for 12 years. Her loyalty to her family and her friends was unmatched. We miss her warm and comforting touch, but know that she is at peace with the Lord at her side.”

Funeral Arrangements:

The family will welcome visitors in Charleston in the Rotunda at the University of Charleston on Friday, September 19, 2014, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. In Moundsville, visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, September 19, at Grisell Funeral Home (400 Jefferson Avenue, Moundsville, WV).

On Saturday, the funeral service for Shelley will begin at 11 a.m. at Simpson United Methodist Church in Moundsville (800 7th Street). The family will receive visitors at 9:30 a.m. at the Church. A private graveside service will follow.

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