Louvenia E. Boykin

SOUTH SIOUX CITY -- Louvenia E. Boykin, 94, of South Sioux City passed away Monday, July 2, 2007, at a Sioux City hospital following a lengthy illness.

Services will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Mount Olive Baptist Church in Sioux City, with the Revs. Charles Jones and Elem Ford officiating. Burial will be in Dakota City (Neb.) Cemetery. Visitation will be 2 to 8 p.m. Friday, with the family present 6 to 8 p.m. and a prayer service at 7 p.m., at Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel. Condolences may be sent online to www.meyerbroschapels.com.

Louvenia was born June 4, 1913, in rural Boulevard County, Shaw, Miss., the daughter of William A. and Junetta (Holmes) Pratt. She grew up and graduated from high school in Mississippi. She also attended an all-girls college in Tennessee. In earlier years, she did record keeping on her dad's farm as well as field work and helped with the farm animals.

She married George P. Boykin on Oct. 18, 1931, in Choctow, Miss. He died June 27, 2000, in South Sioux City. After her marriage, the couple made their home in South Sioux City, where they raised their seven children.

She was a longtime active member of A.M.E. Malone Church. She also attended Mount Olive Baptist Church, Mount Zion Baptist Church and Tabernacle Holiness. She enjoyed gardening and fishing, but most of all, her family.

Survivors include four children and their spouses, Mary Helen and Dr. Mark Fields of Libertyville, Ill., George W. and Michele Boykin Jr. of Sioux City, Al and Marsha Boykin of Sioux City and Gary and Berni Boykin of Aurora, Colo.; 20 grandchildren; and 24 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, the Rev. George P. Boykin; a daughter, Jeanette Boykin; two sons, Donald and Gene Boykin; and a grandson, Richard Buhrman.

Pallbearers will be Alfred Boykin Jr., George Boykin III, Mark Fields III, Gary Boykin Jr., Gene Boykin Jr. and Richard Perry. Honorary pallbearer will be Rick "R.D." Dryden.

Memorials may be made to Hospice of Siouxland, The Cancer Center or Mercy Medical Center -- Sioux City, all provided loving and gentle care to our mother.