Veva Alberta 'Tootie' (Herold) Stevenson
Veva Alberta "Tootie" (Herold) Stevenson, 92, of Butler died at 3:22 a.m. Saturday at her home.
She was born the fourth child of John Frederick Herold and Veva Cora (Youkers) Herold on Oct. 7, 1917, in Center Township, Butler County.
She raced ponies at the Big Butler Fair with her sisters, Gladys Minerva and Mabel Cora.
She went to school at the one-room schoolhouse at the end of Duffy Road, known as St. Clair School and also the Butler High School.
At the age of 19, she married George Alvin Stevenson Jr. on Jan. 1, 1937. They lived in Portersville, Muddy Creek Township, on a farm that had no running water or electricity. That farm is now on the southern side of the Moraine State Park office.
She was a homemaker and a gardener all of her life. She raised four children, Nancy Lee "Johnston," George Alvin III, Alberta Belle "Slater" and Ruth Ellen "Gordon."
Tootie was the secretary and home leader of the Penn State Agriculture Extension Group-Pleasant Hills Group, where she was one of two surviving original members and was the only one remaining active to this date.
She was secretary and treasurer of the Child Evangelism Fellowship for many years. She served as treasurer of the Prospect United Presbyterian Church Sunday School, and she was a second and third grade Sunday school teacher at Prospect United Presbyterian Church.
Tootie was an assistant to the judges at the Big Butler Fair in the Home Economic Exhibitors Division. She entered many fruits, flowers, vegetables and farm products over the years and won many prizes. She assisted in the formulation and the sales of each of the 13 Butler County Extension cookbooks. She worked at the Muddy Creek Township election board for many elections until she was 80 years old, often serving as judge of election.
Square dancing was one of her hobbies or sports that she joined George Jr. in. He called the square dances, and she danced at them at dance halls over the county. Both she and George belonged to the Worth Township Grange.
She was a member of the Butler County Republican Woman's Club. Both she and George were members of the YWCA Mr. and Mrs. Club. She had belonged for many years to the national organization known as "The Jolly 1917'ers." She belonged to the Mount Chestnut Senior Center and to the Evans City Senior Center. She learned how to clog and line dance at the age of 73 at Tanglewood Center in Butler.
She fell while dancing to "Yackety Sax" and broke both wrists and spine in a compression fracture. In 1995, she had her aortic main heart valve replaced at the age of 77. She stilled clogged regularly and participated in shows with the Evans City Senior Clogging Group.
She is survived by three daughters, Mrs. Raymond (Nancy) Johnston of Columbus, Ohio, Mrs. Alan (Albert Belle) Slater of Prospect and Mrs. Joe (Ruth) Gordon of Ringgold, Ga.; one son, George A. Stevenson III of Prospect; eight grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; two step-grandchildren; eight great-step-grandchildren; and by a number of nieces and nephews.
Tootie is preceded in death by her husband, George Alvin Stevenson Jr.; a grandson; three brothers; two sisters; and one step-granddaughter.
<B>STEVENSON</B> — Friends of Veva Alberta (Herold) "Tootie" Stevenson, who died Saturday, May 10, 2010, will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today and Tuesday at the <B>Thompson-Miller Funeral Home</B>, 124 E. North St. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home with the Rev. Michael Charles of Portersville Bible Church officiating. Interment will be at the Greenlawn Burial Estates in Mount Chestnut.Information and a private guest book are available at www.thompson-miller.com.