Evelyn McClenny Oliver, 83, passed away Saturday, Aug. 13, peacefully after a long battle with cancer. A native of Gates County, N.C., Evelyn had been a resident of this area most of her life.

Evelyn will be remembered as a clerk at the College Shop in Suffolk for some 15 years and as an admissions clerk at Obici Hospital for a number of years. She will also be remembered for her dedication and love for her church and family working alongside her husband, Benjamin F. Oliver Sr. in a mom-and-pop grocery business and later Oliver’s Pools Inc. Evelyn was an active member of Whiteheads Grove Baptist Church, where she taught primary Sunday School classes and was Sunday School secretary.

In addition to her husband of 68 years, Benjamin, Evelyn is survived by her son, Frank and his wife Alice of Chesapeake; two granddaughters, Julie O. Fleming and her husband Mark of Raleigh, N.C. and Kimberly O. Welch of Norfolk; and three great-grandsons, Robert and Oliver Fleming and Marcus Welch; two sisters, Martha E. Griggs of Suffolk and Gladys M. Vick of Savannah, Geo.

A graveside funeral service will be conducted at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 16 in Whiteheads Grove Baptist Church Cemetery, with Rev. Ronald Leonard officiating.

The family suggests memorials take the form of contributions to Heartland Hospice at 150 Burnett’s Way, Suffolk, 23434.

Arrangements are in the care of Colonial Funeral Home in Smithfield.