Geneva Parler

Mrs. Geneva Coates Parler, age 90, of Elizabeth Street in Walterboro, entered into her state of eternal rest Monday morning, November 1, 2010, at her residence. She was the wife of sixty-six years to the late Mr. James Avinger Parler who died in 2007.



Funeral services will be conducted 2 oclock Wednesday afternoon, November 3, 2010, from Bethel United Methodist Church, Historic District, 355 Hampton Street, Walterboro with The Reverend Dr. Theron W. Smith, Jr. officiating. Interment will follow in Live Oak Cemetery, Jefferies Blvd, Walterboro.



Mrs. Parler was born September 8, 1920, in Orangeburg County and was a daughter of the late Ezekiel Coates and the late Mazie Coates and was reared from an early age by the late Charles W. Sonny Mitchum and the late Ruby Barber Mitchum.



Geneva was known for her secretarial and bookkeeping skills with great attention to detail. After marrying her late husband she moved to Walterboro in 1941. In her early years in Walterboro she worked as a secretary with the Employment Service, Agriculture Education, Colleton County Library and Bethel United Methodist Church, where she was a member from the time she came to Walterboro until her death. At her church, served as secretary/treasurer of the Wesleyan Service Guild for many years. In 1961 Geneva joined her husband, James, in the family business, Thompsons 5 & 10, until it closed in 2002, which was located on the historic district on Main Street, and was a community icon during its tenure.



Surviving are: her son, James A. Parler, Jr. of Walterboro; two grandchildren, Matthew Steven Parler of Walterboro; Kelly Parler Landers and her husband Adam of Dunbar, West Virginia; one she loved as a grandson, Jesse Board and his and the grandchildrens mother, Teresa Board of Hurricane, West Virginia; a sister-in-law, Katherine Hogan of Walterboro; and a brother-in-law, Thomas G. Parler and his wife Dora of West Columbia; as well as several nieces and nephews. Also, loving caregivers, Victoria Teasdel and Annie Mae Siders. She was preceded in death by three sisters, Cenetta Coates, Mae Barry Chaney, and Mary Lee Douglass, and two borthers, Ezekiel Coates and Carman Mitchum.



Flowers will be accepted, or for those that wish, the family has respectfully requested that memorial contributions be directed in her memory to: Bethel United Methodist Church, Post Office Box 407, Walterboro, South Carolina 29488.



For those that so desire, memorial messages and thoughts of condolence, as well as memories of Mrs. Geneva may be shared with the Parler family by visiting: www.briceherndonfuneralhome.com.



Family and friends are invited to call from 6:00 until 8:00 this Tuesday evening at THE BRICE W. HERNDON AND SONS FUNERAL HOMES, WALTERBORO CHAPEL, 1193 Bells Highway, Walterboro, 843.538.5408.

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