Eva Colene (Brice) Connor

Mrs. Eva Colene Brice Connor was born on April 5th, 1931 to the late Theolia Brice Davis and James Derr. Colene, as she was called by her close friends and family, was called home to be with Jesus on May 17th, 2018. She was preceded in death by her husband Louis William Connor and 11 brother and sister-in laws, one sister, Mrs. Gurtie Ruth Graham and one brother James Alexander Davis. She has one remaining sister, Mrs. Mary Francis Kerns of Cornelius and one remaining Brother-In-Law, James Garfield Connor (Allean). Colene started working toward a legacy of hard work, determination and foremost, faith in God and his son Jesus Christ. Colene believed that anything was possible as long as you accept Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he made for our salvation. She started working toward this legacy at an early age. She started working at the age of 16 at Davidson College with her grandfather John Brice. She then met and married Louis Connor in early 1949. She had a daughter , Dely Hernandez Connor-Parrish (Tommy) and a son in 1966, Derrick Louis Connor. She graduated from Torrence-Lytle High School and immediately started working toward her early childhood development degree as well as a nursing degree. She completed her degree in both in 1958. She soon started working as a nurse at Good Samaritan Hospital, which later became Carolina Medical Center third shift where she worked for eight years. She refused to work in a segregated environment again, so after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 she started to work as a Kindergarten Assistant Teacher and bus driver for 15 years at Cornelius Elementary School where she was the first black female driver in the county until her retirement in 1979. She continued to nurse for an additional 16 years until her retirement in 1995 from nursing. Colene made it clear to her family that God comes first and everything else came second. She precipitated this through her loving and forgiving spirit. Colene joined Ossie B. Ferguson Order of The Eastern Star Chapter #673, where she also enjoyed giving back to the community and helping her fellow man. She loved telling family and friends everyday just how good God has been to her, even when things got debilitating for her. Colene always told her daughter and son to never get tired of always doing what’s right even when doing wrong seems like the easy way out. She attended Hunters Chapel United Methodist Church for over 65 years until her health started to decline. She was an avid member of the Senior Choir and Woman Society for many decades as well.  She also attended Torrence Chapel AME Zion Church as a child. She loved helping children and focused her time on helping as many people as she could, as often as she could, for as long as she could. Colene always saw the best in people even when others thought less of them. Colene was a pillar of strength in her family and always made sure we saw the world for what it was and people for who they are. She told those who cared for her that “you don’t have to like a person to love a person and to never treat people the way they treat you, unless they treat you with the respect you deserve”. Colene adored and loved her daughter Dely and son-in-law Tommy Parrish who took care of her the last 10 years of her life. She enjoyed singing her gospel songs in the morning, talking to her sister Mary Francis nearly everyday, watching Judge Judy and telling Dely why Judge Judy was wrong, sitting and talking to her two great-grandchildren, and telling Dely that her fried chicken is almost as good as hers use to be! She celebrated her 87th birthday on April 5th, 2018 with her daughter, son-in-law, grandson Josh, granddaughter Natalie, and two great-grandchildren Terrence and N’Terriah Carothers. She was surrounded by those who loved her and she loved them all equally. She will be sorely missed by all who knew her and loved her,  because if you met Colene she definitely wouldn’t let you forget her and sometimes would tell you things that are hard to hear, but needed to be said!

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Eva Colene (Brice) Connor, please visit our floral store.