annetta “ann” thomas lyons-ervin
1939-2012
Life Story
Early Life in Laurel, Mississippi
Annetta “Ann” Thomas Lyons-Ervin was born on September 27, 1939, in Laurel, Mississippi, the daughter of Hunter Thomas and Lennie Howze Thomas.
Annetta was among the younger children in the large blended family of Linnie Houze. By the time of her childhood, the family’s center had shifted from the Newton County communities associated with some of her older siblings to Laurel in Jones County.
In 1950, Annetta was living in Laurel with her mother, Linnie, her stepfather, Walter Hawkins, and her brother Hunter Thomas Jr. The household represented another chapter in a family whose children would eventually establish homes across Mississippi and in northern cities including Erie, Pennsylvania, and Gary, Indiana.
Education and a Career of Service
Annetta continued her education beyond her Mississippi childhood. She attended Oak Park High School and later Lorain College in Ohio, eventually earning a bachelor’s degree.
Her professional life combined two forms of service that became important parts of her identity: nursing and ministry.
Annetta worked as a nurse, with her employment including St. Mercy and Methodist Hospital. Her 2012 Indiana death certificate confirms her usual occupation as “Minister and Nurse” and identifies her field of work as religion and health care.
Her education and career represented a considerable transition from the rural Mississippi world into which her family had been born. By adulthood, Annetta had become an educated professional whose work encompassed both physical and spiritual care.
From Mississippi to Indiana
Like several of her brothers and sisters, Annetta eventually left Mississippi.
She established herself in Gary, Indiana, one of the major northern destinations for African American families leaving Mississippi during the twentieth century. She later lived in nearby Merrillville.
Annetta’s migration placed her near her sister Violene Haynes, who had also established a home in Gary. Meanwhile, other siblings—including Katie Ramsey, Alfred Thomas, Elbert Thomas, and the Rev. Hunter Thomas Jr.—became associated with Erie, Pennsylvania.
The children who had once shared roots in Mississippi were thus establishing family branches across several northern communities.
Nurse, Minister, and Businesswoman
Annetta’s working life was not confined to a single occupation.
In addition to her work as a nurse and minister, she became a business owner, operating One Stop Grocery.
Her varied career placed her within several areas of community life. Nursing connected her with health care, ministry with the religious community, and ownership of a neighborhood grocery store with the everyday economic life of the community in which she lived.
These roles provide a fuller picture of Annetta than any single occupational title could capture. She was simultaneously a health-care professional, a religious worker, and an entrepreneur.
Faith and Community
Christian faith remained an important part of Annetta’s adult life.
She was associated with the Community Church of God and Sweet Holy Mission of Gary. Her religious commitment eventually extended beyond church membership into ministry itself.
Annetta was also active in the Order of the Eastern Star, adding another dimension to her community involvement.
Together, her church affiliations, ministry, nursing career, business ownership, and fraternal involvement reflect a life deeply connected with the institutions surrounding her in Gary and northwest Indiana.
Marriage and Family
Annetta was formerly married to Alney Lyons. Her family included children Dale Lyons, Joyce Lyons, and Tracy Phillips.
Her life also extended into additional generations. By the time of her death, her family included eleven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
She experienced significant losses during her lifetime. Her children Dale and Joyce Lyons died before her, as did her grandson Bernard “Birdie” Brooks.
Several of her siblings also preceded her in death, including Alfred Thomas, the Rev. Hunter Thomas Jr., Francis Evans, Flora Mae Moffett, and Eloise McCormick.
Later Years
In her later years, Annetta lived at 534 West 66th Place in Merrillville, Indiana.
Her death certificate identifies Veronica Leigh Davis as her caregiver and informant. Family information further remembers Davis as Annetta’s special friend and guardian during the later period of her life.
Annetta eventually became a resident of Highland Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Highland, Indiana.
Death and Burial
Annetta Lyons-Ervin died on June 1, 2012, at 4:30 p.m. at Highland Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Highland, Lake County, Indiana. She was seventy-two years old.
Her Indiana death certificate records the immediate cause of death as failure to thrive due to end-stage dementia. Congestive heart failure and diabetes mellitus were recorded as other significant conditions contributing to her death. Her death was classified as natural, and no autopsy was performed.
At the time of her death, the certificate identified her as widowed and confirmed her usual occupations as minister and nurse.
Annetta was survived by her daughter Tracy Phillips of Sharon, Pennsylvania; sisters Katie Ramsey of Erie, Pennsylvania, and Violene Haynes of Gary, Indiana; brother Elbert Thomas of Erie; grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and other relatives.
Funeral arrangements were handled by Smith Bizzell Warner Funeral Home in Gary. Services were held on June 9, 2012, and Annetta was laid to rest at Evergreen Memorial in Hobart, Indiana.
Legacy
Annetta “Ann” Thomas Lyons-Ervin’s life adds another distinctive chapter to the story of Lennie Howze’s children.
Born in Laurel in 1939, she came of age as members of her family were increasingly establishing lives beyond Mississippi. Annetta followed that broader movement north, eventually making northwest Indiana her home.
But migration was only one part of her story.
She pursued higher education and earned a bachelor’s degree. She entered nursing, became a minister, operated One Stop Grocery, participated in the Order of the Eastern Star, and maintained ties to religious communities in Gary. Her death certificate’s simple description of her life’s work—“Minister and Nurse”—captures two of the roles through which she served others.
Her life also demonstrates how widely one Mississippi family had spread within a generation. Some siblings remained in Mississippi. Several built new lives in Erie. Violene and Annetta became part of the family’s Indiana branch.
When Annetta died in 2012, she had lived through more than seven decades of that family transformation. From Laurel to Gary and Merrillville, from nursing to ministry and business ownership, her life reflected education, work, faith, family, and service—another path taken by the descendants of a Mississippi family whose story had expanded far beyond the communities where it began.
Resting Place
Evergreen Memorial in Hobart, Indiana.
Photos/Albums
Sources
- 1950 U.S. Census, Jones County, Mississippi, population schedule, Laurel, Walter Hawkins household. Annetta Thomas was living with her mother, Linnie Hawkins, stepfather Walter Hawkins, and brother Hunter Thomas Jr.
- Indiana State Department of Health, Certificate of Death, Annetta Lyons Ervin, state no. 027250, EDR no. 000000263573, June 1, 2012. The certificate gives Annetta’s birth date as September 27, 1939, birthplace as Laurel, Mississippi, and identifies her parents as Hunter Thomas and Linnie Houze Thomas.
- Obituary/funeral record for Annetta “Ann” Lyons-Ervin, June 2012. Records of Annetta’s life document her education at Oak Park High School and Lorain College of Ohio, where she pursued her education through the college level and earned a bachelor’s degree.
- Indiana State Department of Health, Certificate of Death, Annetta Lyons Ervin, June 1, 2012. Her usual occupation was recorded as “Minister and Nurse,” with her fields of work identified as religion and health care.
- Obituary/funeral record for Annetta “Ann” Lyons-Ervin, June 2012. Annetta’s working life included nursing employment at St. Mercy and Methodist Hospital, as well as ownership of One Stop Grocery.
- Ibid. Annetta was associated with Community Church of God and Sweet Holy Mission of Gary, Indiana, and was active in the Order of the Eastern Star.
- Ibid. Annetta was formerly married to Alney Lyons. Her children included Dale Lyons, Joyce Lyons, and Tracy Phillips. Dale and Joyce preceded their mother in death, as did her grandson Bernard “Birdie” Brooks.
- Ibid. Annetta was preceded in death by siblings Alfred Thomas, the Rev. Hunter Thomas Jr., Francis Evans, Flora Mae Moffett, and Eloise McCormick. Surviving siblings included Katie Ramsey of Erie, Pennsylvania; Violene Haynes of Gary, Indiana; and Elbert Thomas of Erie, Pennsylvania. She was also survived by eleven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
- Indiana State Department of Health, Certificate of Death, Annetta Lyons Ervin, June 1, 2012. At the time of her death, Annetta resided at 534 West 66th Place, Merrillville, Lake County, Indiana. Veronica Leigh Davis, identified as her caregiver, supplied the information for the death certificate.
- Ibid. Annetta died at 4:30 p.m. on June 1, 2012, at Highland Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Highland, Lake County, Indiana, at age seventy-two. The immediate cause of death was recorded as “failure to thrive due to end stage dementia.” Other significant conditions were congestive heart failure and diabetes mellitus. The manner of death was natural, and no autopsy was performed.
- Ibid. Annetta’s remains were entrusted to Smith Bizzell Warner Funeral Home, 4209 Grant Street, Gary, Indiana. The certificate records burial at Evergreen Memorial, Hobart, Indiana.
- Obituary/funeral record for Annetta “Ann” Lyons-Ervin, June 2012. Funeral services were held June 9, 2012, in Gary, Indiana.
Leave a Reply