Wava Testerman

On Thursday, June 4, 2015, after a brief illness, Wava Wheeler Testerman, age 97, passed away in Ocean Springs, MS, where she had lived for the past seven years with her daughter and son-in-law. She was born June 22, 1917 in Penvir, VA to the late William H. and Nora Lake Wheeler, the fifth of 11 children. She was preceded in death by her husband, Victor R. Testerman in 1945; her brothers, Leonard, Tom, John, Paul, Sam, Ray, Clifford, and Carl Wheeler; and sister, Boneda Roatenberry; half-brothers, Edgar and Ernest Wheeler. Wava graduated from Narrows Highs School and McClain’s Business College in Bluefield, WV. She worked for 27 years with the Richlands office of the Virginia Division of War Veterans Claims and never lost her respect and sympathy for veterans. She also worked for ten years as Secretary and Bookkeeper for pastor and businessman Nelson Baker; and for years as secretary to the administrator of Richlands Clinch Valley Clinic. Wava loved to travel and took advantage of opportunities to attend state and south-wide church meetings and trips abroad with family. In Richlands, she was an active member of First Baptist Church as Secretary and Treasurer, a Sunday school teacher, and in the Business Women’s Circle where she became President of the Southwest Federation of Baptist Business Women. Heavily involved in the youth work of the local church and at the associational and state level, she become the New Lebanon Associational Director of the YWAs. Later she was an active member of Hill Creek Baptist Church for many years. In the community, she was an early member of the Intermediate Woman’s Club that became the Richlands Woman’s Club where she was always involved in their city projects. Her courageous ability to make things work, her gracious gentility, her leadership, her concern for veterans, and her love of family are attributes that made her life an asset to all who knew her. She is survived by: Her Daughter: Drs. Patricia Testerman Pinson and her husband, Ernest Pinson of Ocean Springs, MS Granddaughter, Drs. Heather Pinson and her husband, Matthew Conboy of Pittsburgh, PA Younger Sister, Hazel Akers of Narrows, VA Several nieces and nephews also survive, along with a host of family and friends. Funeral Services for Wava Wheeler Testerman will be conducted at 1:00 pm on Wednesday, June 10, 2015 at the Hurst-Scott Funeral Chapel in Richlands, VA with the Rev. Bill Fletcher and Rev. Stafford Compton officiating. Interment will follow at Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery in Bluefield, WV. Family and friends will serve as pallbearers. The Testerman family will receive friends from 11:00 am until the funeral hour at the funeral home on Wednesday afternoon. She and her family would be honored if you would like to give a gift to one of these organizations in her name: Hill Creek Baptist Church, Treasurer, 214 Philpot Ave; Richlands, VA 24641 or Bluefield College Nelson and Ethel Barker Scholarship Fund, 3000 College Dr.; Bluefield, VA 24605. Hurst-Scott Funeral Home in Richlands, Virginia is in charge of arrangements and those wishing to express sympathy online may do so at www.hurstscottfuneralhomes.com

Wava Testerman

June 22, 1917 - June 4, 2015