Frances Ervin

Frances B. Ervin VIRGINIA BEACH - Frances "Punky" Broughton Ervin of 115 77th Street passed away peacefully at Sentara Nursing Center -Windermere Nov. 3, 2008, after a lengthy illness. She was born to Alexander Bell Broughton and Frances Clayton Hart Broughton on June 21, 1921. "Punky" was predeceased by her parents and by her brother, Alexander "Sandy" Bell Broughton Jr. She graduated from Maury High School and attended the Norfolk Division of The William & Mary (ODU). She worked at the Naval Operations Base (NOB) during World War II. There she met her husband, Lt. Fred Reid Ervin, whom she married on March 12, 1943. While her husband was starting his own construction firm, Frances became a full-time homemaker, devoted to raising her three children: Reid, Steve and Diane. Mrs. Ervin was very active in her community, volunteering at Galilee Episcopal Church, Linkhorn Park School, Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital and soliciting her North End neighborhood for numerous charities. She loved bowling, playing golf, traveling and beachcombing with her cocker spaniels, Jill and Mopsy. During the 1960s, she enjoyed riding in her Jeep on the beach from Sandbridge to Corolla, N.C., and never failed to come home with a load of shells, driftwood and firewood. During the l980s and 1990s, she enjoyed shelling on Sanibel Island, Fla., where Reid built her a vacation home. She delighted in making friends on her shelling walks and often gave away her best shells to children she met on the beach. In the summer months, she spent all of her time at her home in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. She loved to go to yard sales while there often with her lifelong friend, Peggy Wood. From her porch she had a front row seat where she could view boats sailing in the harbor. She was delighted to have her children and grandchildren visit her throughout the summer. Mrs. Ervin leaves to cherish her memory her husband, Reid; her children, Reid and Harriet Ervin, Stephen and Vicki Ervin, and Diane and Chris Sumerlin; and her grandchildren, Henly and Charlie Schmitt, Mary Reid and Daniel Daly, Daniel Sumerlin, Sandy Sumerlin, Lauren Ervin and Bret Ervin. The entire Ervin family would like to thank her dedicated and loving caregiver, Sheila Biscak. A memorial service to celebrate "Punky's" life will be held in Galilee Episcopal Church Thursday at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Duke University, designating the Frances Ervin Family Scholarship Fund, Duke University, Room 116, Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, NC 27708, Boothbay Region Land Trust or the SPCA. H.D. Oliver Funeral Apts., Laskin Road Chapel, is handling arrangements.