SEARCY — A very special lady, Verniel Yvonne Gipson
East, passed away on Monday, April 8 at Unity Health in Searcy, Ark., just three days after her 93rd birthday.
Verniel was born on April 5, 1931 in St. Louis, Mo., the only child of Vernon and Hazel Gipson. The family moved to Arkansas when she was five years old and settled in the Albion area, just north of Searcy.
She was a 1948 graduate of Searcy High School. In 1956, Verniel married James A. East of Stuart, Va., who was in the United States Air Force. She was a typical “Air Force wife”, moving the family to places such as Weisbaden, Germany, Homestead, Fla., and Mountain Home, Idaho.
Verniel was widowed at a young age in 1971 and was left to raise three young children in her hometown of Searcy. She said she accomplished that “with God’s help” and the help of her parents Vernon and Hazel Gipson, and many, many lifetime friends.
She never remarried, but instead devoted the next 50+ years of her life to her children, grandchildren and most recently, her beloved great grandchildren.
She worked at the Searcy Clinic for Dr. Thomas A. Formby and Dr. A.R. Brown, and later at the Searcy Medical Center, as a medical transcriptionist for many years, and then for an extended amount of time for dear friend Dr. John Henderson, a Searcy cardiologist. She finally, at the urging of her children, retired in 2005 at the age of 74.
Verniel was a long-time member at Westside Church of Christ and loved her church family. She was baptized into Christ in 1954 at the College Church.
She is survived by her three children, Bonnie Davis (Rick) of Searcy; Elizabeth Watson (Tom) of Searcy; and Steve East (Carrie) of Conway, Ark.; grandchildren Robert Davis (Kari) of Velvet Ridge Ark.; Andrew Watson (Jessica) of Little Rock, Ark.; Sarah Stevens (David) of North Little Rock, Ark.; and great grandchildren Lane Stevens, Reid Stevens and Rhen Davis. Also a very special cousin, Dianne Hutsell, whom she loved as a daughter.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 14 at Westside Church of Christ in Searcy, Ark. (709 W. Arch Ave.), with a family visitation to follow. Memorials can be made to a charity of your choice.