DATE: Tuesday, October 28, 1997             TAG: 9710280188

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B8   EDITION: FINAL 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   41 lines

THELMA T. SYKES

Thelma E. Toliver Sykes (Tuts) of 1508 Woodbridge Place died Oct. 27, 1997. After a long courageous fight against cancer, she is resting peacefully with theLord.

She was a native of Norfolk and the daughter of the late Vaney E. and Thelma E. Kelly Toliver. She was an outstanding sales associate for Belk Department Store and she retired after 17 years of dedicated service. She was formerly department manager for shoes and home store. That position was abolished and she became a sales associate. She was the 1995 recipient of the Belk Award of Excellence and her portrait is hanging in the Belk Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C. She was the first Leggett Associate to receive such an honor.

She was a graduate of the Booker T. Washington High School Class of 1957. She was a member of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church where she participated diligently in the various church organizations as follows: former chairperson of the Christian Board of Education, senior choir member, Pastor's Aide, Beautification Ministry, Organizer of the Golden Age Club, Church Council and the Tidewater Youth Advisory Fellowship (TYAF).

Survivors include her husband, Joseph W. Sykes; a daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Clyde (Wanda Toliver) Lynch of Virginia Beach; a son, Dexter B. Sykes of Lubbock, Texas; a brother and sister-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Vaney E. (Dale) Toliver of Virginia Beach; a sister, Jean E. Toliver Saunders of Norfolk; an uncle, Charles Brown of Baltimore, Md.; two grandchildren, Clinton and Tenesha Toliver; a niece; three nephews; and a host of relatives and special friends.

A funeral will be conducted at noon Thursday at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, 2153 Kempsville Road, Virginia Beach, by the Rev. William Darryl Scott Sr., pastor. The family will receive relatives and friends at the home of Mrs. Sykes' daughter and son-in-law, Mrs. (Wanda) Clyde Lynch, 5293 Albright Drive, Virginia Beach. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Pretlow and Sons Funeral Home. ILLUSTRATION: Photo KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY DEATH OBITUARY

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