Obituary of Rowena Colvin

Services for Mrs. Bernice Rowena Self Colvin, age 95 of Olla, will be 2 PM Sunday, January 25, 2009 from the chapel of Riser Funeral Home in Olla with Pastor Jack Fry officiating. Interment will follow at Olla Cemetery in Olla. Visitation will be Saturday evening from to 5 PM to 8PM and again Sunday from 10 AM until time of service. Mrs. Colvin was born on July 10, 1913 in Mounds, Oklahoma to the union of Samuel Clark and Florence Yates Self and departed from this life on Saturday, January 18, 2009 from The Lantern Center in Collegedale, TN, after a long and fruitful life. Rowena was raised on a farm and after her eighth grade year she followed the lead of her parents in converting to the Seventh-day Adventist Church in nearby Sapulpa. She met Jackson William Colvin at Southwestern Junior College Academy in Keene, TX, and shortly after graduation was married. She was a devoted mother to her two sons. In the early 1950's she began working as a librarian at the LaSalle Parish Branch Library in Olla. Through the years she met and assisted hundreds of high school students. Having set aside her dream of becoming a nurse, Rowena enthusiastically pursued courses at LSU-Alexandria in Library Science. She was always concerned that her sons take advantage of education and work opportunities and later exhibited the same interest in her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She was especially proud of the distinguished service of her older son, Clark and great-grandson, Brandon in the US military. For a number of years Rowena served as treasurer for the short-lived Georgetown Church, later switching her membership to Westlake Seventh-day Adventist Church in West Monroe. Following her husband's stroke in 1979, she lovingly cared for him until his death in March 1992. Rowena touched many lives, but found her greatest joy in being surrounded by family and friends. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her. Mrs. Colvin was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Jack Colvin, her son, Clark Elwood Colvin, and three siblings: Erma Vanerwegen, Dorothy Mackin and Ward Self. Survivors include her son, Gerald Franklin Colvin and wife, Vivian Faye of Ooltewah, TN, daughter-in-law, Anita Louise Colvin of Benton, LA, five grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, expected first great-great-grandchild in March and a host of nieces, nephews and other family and friends. Serving as pallbearers will be Clark Colvin, Jr., Steven Colvin, Wade Colvin, Guy Colvin, Lt. Brandon Colvin and Glenn Henderson.