Elvada Gunn

Funeral services for Elvada Gunn will beheld Sunday, November 29, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. at Calvary Missionary Baptist Church in Minden, Louisiana with Bro. Doug Gregg and Bro. Richard Methvin officiating. Interment will follow at Minden Cemetery in Minden under the direction of Rose-Neath Funeral Home in Minden, Louisiana. The family will receive friends from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. Saturday, November 28, 2020 at Rose-Neath Funeral Home in Minden. Elvada was born June 10, 1924 at home in Antioch, Arkansas and entered into rest November 21, 2020 in Minden, Louisiana. She was a member of Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, Minden; and Lydia Sunday School Class for several years, serving as a Sunday School Teacher, Ladies Axillary Teacher and a choir member where she used her voice to serve the Lord with beautiful specials. She also sang and travelled with the LA Missionary Baptist Seminary, where she also worked several years as Secretary. She was known to many young preacher students as "Momma Gunn." As she took many of the students under her wings and nurtured them in the faith and cared for them. At Town and Country Nursing Home; where she resided, she was a cheerful greeter to new residents and prayed with them on their first day at the facility as she welcomed them. Elvada sang Gospel Quartet music with her father and mother (who played the piano) and 7 brothers, 1 sister, when they traveled all over Central Arkansas many years ago. They were known as "The Harrell Family." Her first husband was MIA in WWII, his plane was shot down over the ocean and never found. Elvada had to wait 6 months before he would be legally declared deceased. She was left a widow and a young mother with baby Vivian. Many years later she met Rev. Vard Gunn at Seminary in Little Rock, Arkansas. They married, and as a preacher's wife, traveled with Vard to the many churches he served. Elvada, or Mama Gunn, leaves a legacy of being a faithful warrior and servant of the Lord. She knew the most important thing she could do for her family and friends was to lift them in prayer. She took care of many of the "preacher boys" that passed that passed through the doors of the Seminary by making sure they had food to eat and presents for their children at Christmas. As a resident of Town and Country, she continued to spread the love of Jesus by making a point to talk to other residents and, one instance, singing to a resident everyday that spoke little, but would mouth the words to the song Mama Gunn was singing. We will miss her, but we are at peace that she is in Heaven with her Lord. She is survived by her daughter, Vivian (Wayne) Rhodes; grandchildren, Jennifer (Steven), Johnny (Connie), Scotty (Tina); brothers, Curtis Harrell (Marva) of Rogers, Arkansas, Wayland Harrell (Erma Lee) of Beebe, Arkansas; one sister, Yvonne Southard (James) of Jordan, Arkansas; 8 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, William and Blanche Liles Harrell; five brothers, Hubert, Jack, Walker, Elvis, and Cleveland Harrell; husband's, Elvis Carter, died in action in WWII of Arkansas and Rev. Vard Gunn of Minden, Louisiana. Pallbearers will be Michael Beaird, Shane Frye, Rickie Gray, Claude Reeves, Morris Busby, Tommy Frye, David Peterson, and Dan Shidiskis. Rose-Neath Funeral Home 211 Murrell Street Minden, Louisiana 71055 (318) 377-3412