Vera "Bit" Ann Marlow

A celebration of life in memory of Vera A. Marlow will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 5, 2013, at Mt. Canaan Baptist Church in Gurdon, Arkansas. Rev. D. B. Newburn the pastor of St. Clair Missionary Baptist Church will officiate. The interment will be in Rome Cemetery in the Burtsell Community of Okolona, Arkansas. Public visitation will be held from 12:00 noon until 7:00 p.m. at the funeral home and the family will receive friends from 6:00 until 7:00 p.m. Click TributeLink to watch tribute. Our beloved mother Vera Ann Marlow, who was affectionately known as “Bit” was born on June 8, 1947 in the Burtsell Community of Okolona, Arkansas. She grew up in a home filled with the love of her parents A. G. Marlow and Sammie Barlow and siblings. As a child she was a member of St. Clair Missionary Baptist Church. She remained an active and faithful member until her health began to decline. She was a member of the WMU and served dutifully as an usher. Her greatest joy was visiting the convalescent and the sick. She received her formal education at Simmons High School in Okolona. In 1967, she envisioned a better life for her family and moved to Chicago. Vera made many sacrifices to raise and nurture Cuba and Michael. She never forgot the life lessons she learned in Burtsell. While in Chicago she worked for the Brach’s Candy Company. She later moved to Benton and worked for Curtis Mathis Television Company. She later came full circle and moved back to the beloved Burtsell Community. She worked at Firestone and later retired from Potlatch. As quiet as it was kept, Vera was an entrepreneur. She made headstones and built bird houses that sold as soon as she would get one completed. “Bit” was fun-loving and knew how to make the best of any situation. She loved her family; but her grandchildren were the apple of her eye. They kept her smiling and laughing. She enjoyed cooking and loved flowers. Those she touched and those who knew her witnessed her untiring love for God. She was a believer in “treating others, as you would have them to treat you”. On September 25, 2013, Vera surrendered to her valiant fight with cancer. II Timothy 4:7 says, For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. Although she lived what some may call a short life, those who were touched by her understood that the quality of her existence far exceeded the quantity of time many of us spent with her. She leaves an abundance of memories in the hearts of her children: Cuba F. Alford of Hot Springs, AR and Michael (Chautauqua) Edwardson of Garland, TX; seven grandchildren , Anthony Loudermilk, Antoinette Loudermilk, Antonio Loudermilk, Adrian Loudermilk, Jordan Wells, Keana Edwardson and Deshondria Edwardson; two great-grandchildren; four sisters, Mary Ann Marlow of Gurdon, AR, Willie Mae Harvell of Okolona, AR, Marion (Enoch) Arnold of Arkadelphia, AR and Alene Kelly of Gurdon, AR; five brothers, Larry (Cynthia) Marlow of Nashville, AR, Jimmy (Mattie) Marlow of Gurdon, AR, John (Cassandra) Marlow of Caddo Valley, AR, J. C. Marlow of Hot Springs, AR and Billy Lidge of Gurdon, AR; her special friends Enoch Arnold, Delois McPeak, Ruth Adams, Jerine Haltey, Mattie Marlow, Angelina Watson, Rosetta Spencer, Cindy Bates, Gus Long, and Cheryl Miller. She also leaves an abundance of nieces, nephews, cousins, countless friends and the St. Clair Missionary Baptist Church family.