THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 16, 1994 TAG: 9411160448
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
Mrs. Talmadge Everton Sawyer, wife of Pasquotank County Sheriff Davis M. Sawyer Jr., died Tuesday morning in Albemarle Hospital after a long illness. She was 68.
``Tal'' Sawyer for years battled increasingly severe emphysema and most recently received innovative treatment at a Mexican clinic.
After his wife returned from the special therapy earlier this year, Sheriff Sawyer reported, ``She's much better - it's almost a miracle.''
A broken hip added to Mrs. Sawyer's medical problems, and she failed to rally after emergency surgery for a stomach ulcer last week, family members said.
She and her husband lived for many years at 1008 Weeks St., in Elizabeth City. She was a native of Pasquotank County and the daughter of the late Earl and Lennie Everton.
Besides her husband, Mrs. Sawyer is survived by a daughter, Shelby Matthews, of Elizabeth City; a sister, Arny Hodges, of Elizabeth City, four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
The funeral will be Friday at 11 a.m. in Twiford's Memorial Chapel, 405 E. Church St., Elizabeth City, with the Rev. Milton Mann and Rev. David Moehring officiating. Burial will follow in Westlawn Memorial Park Cemetery.
Sheriff Sawyer has been frequently mentioned as a likely candidate for the Pasquotank County commissioner's job that will be vacated when William C. ``Bill'' Owens Jr. goes to the General Assembly in January as a new member of the state House of Representatives.
Owens' post will be filled by Gov. James B. Hunt Jr., after a candidate is recommended by North Carolina's 1st District Democratic Party. by CNB