Eva Maiden Greer

Eva B. Maiden Greer, born on December 21, 1909, celebrated 95 years of life. She often reminisced over the years of her past and amazed her children and grandchildren alike.

Her fondest memories were of her childhood in Dahlgren, Virginia. She was reared by her grandparents Charlie and Sarah Johnson. She and her first cousin, James Jasper Johnson were reared liked sister and brother at their grandparents' home. She was reverent when remembering. She spoke of her mother's (the late Sarah Johnson Frazier) eleven siblings, who were always around. She had a different story for each aunt and uncle who was flamboyant, comical and charismatic. Eva was the oldest of seven siblings, Rosetta, the late Catherie Moore, Benjamin, Edgar, Alphonso, and Bernard Frazier. One sister, Rosetta currently resides in Washington, D.C.

She attended school at Ark and Moses Hall. SHe joined Little Ark Baptist Church at an early age and was a member of the senior choir, flower guild and the kitchen committee.

Eva was united in matrimony to the late Melvin L. Maiden in 1926. They have five daughters, Verlette, Celestine (Ernest), Melvine, Frances and Itelia (Nathan). She has seven grandchidren, eight great grandchildren, and two great-great-granddaughters. ''Maiden carried the mail and then we owned a store, a pool hall and four boarding houses. I worked the store,'' she recalled. I also worked a the officer's club on the base (then the Naval Proving Ground at Dahlgren) until 1949 when they closed. ''I walked to work everyday,'' she stated proudly.

They had been married thirty-nine years when Maiden died in 1945. For thirteen years she lived alone and perserved. She cut and maintained her own very large lawn and ajoining property. She painted and continued to raise his vegetable gardens. The gardens became smaller and smaller over the years but she continued to raise vegetables and was always eager to show off her produce and the beautiful flower beds which adorned her yard.

At the ripe age of sixty, she first bought a brand new Dodge and then later got her license to drive. She stated that ''Maiden owned two Model T Fords, but I never bothers to drive.'' Her family could not believe she was driving.

In 1978 she married Roosevelt Greer, an electrician who had his own heat pump business, and lived in Warwick, Rhode Island. For twelve years they lived in Rhode Island in the summer months and returned to Virginia in the winter months until his health began to fail. In 1992, after fourteen years of marriage, Mr. Greer passed away.

''Muz,'' as she was affectionately called by her grandchildren, loved to cook and sew. She thanked God for her health. She was spry, alert and could match wits with the best. She was quite a seamstress in her day. As time went by, she did not sew as much, but she still had an eye for fashion, flair, color and design. She was active and always on the go, always participating with King George and Stafford Senior Citizens' Associations. She enjoyed the companionship of her friend, the late Mr. Frank White of Stafford, Virginia who kept her social calendar full. Eva also cherished the times she spent with her special loved ones: William T. Scott, Odell Parr, Anna Hughes, Josephine Burnett, Cherl and Sparky Stewart, and cousin James Johnson.

When asked to what did she attribute her good health and longevity, she replied, ''God and hard work.''

Eva Maiden-Greer was interviewed for this biography for the Little Ark Baptist Church Black History Program on February 26, 1999. She peacefully departed this life on Tuesday, May 31, 2005 at Mary Washington Hospital, Fredericksburg, Virginia.




Funeral Home:
Cedell Brooks Funeral Home
25662 A.P. Hill Blvd
Port Royal, VA
US 22535