Vernell Olivia Chestnut
April 27, 1935 ~ October 22, 2020
Bishop Vernell Olivia Chestnut, age eighty-five, of Lawton passed away Thursday, October 22, 2020.
Vernell was born April 27, 1935 in Jesup, Georgia and was the oldest of seventeen children. She was tall for her age and was one of the first in her high school to play basketball. She enjoyed travelling Europe with her military husband. Upon returning to the United States they settled in the small quaint town of Lawton, Oklahoma where they lived the rest of their lives. She was a pastor at Christ Temple Church before pasturing her own Church Revival Way House of Prayer. Bishop Chestnut had an unwavering love of God, family and people. She had a great sense of humor and a welcoming spirit. She was a great cook and made a perfect carrot cake.
Bishop Chestnut is preceded in death by her father, John Henry Lawson Jr. and mother, Ora Bell Horton; Charlie W. Horton; husband, David F. Chestnut; daughter, Sachinko Tucker; son, George Frasier Jr.; brother, John Henry Lawson III; sister, Penelope Franklin. She is survived by sister, Cora Bernard of Miami, Florida; sister, Christine Paris of Rochester, New York; sister, Rosalyn Morrison and her husband James of Rochester, New York; brother, John Horton of Rochester, New York; sister, Shirley Purdy of Jacksonville, Florida; sister, Etta Faye Paschal and her husband Demetrius of Jesup, Georgia; brother, Edward Horton of Brunswick, Georgia; sister, Gail Foster of Jesup, Georgia; sister, Yuriko Smith of Jesup, Georgia; sister, Laura Elliot of Jacksonville, Florida; sister, Dorothy Johnson of Savannah, Georgia; brother, Richard Warren Lawson and his wife Eleanor of Chicago, Illinois; brother, Reverend Dale Lawson and his wife Valerie of Country Club Hills, Illinois; sister Donna Rae Ervin of California; aunts, Ruby Kirby of Jacksonville, Florida and Blanche Richardson of Brunswick, Georgia. Vernell is also survived by six children, Mary Frasier, Larry Frasier, Tommy Frasier, Felicia Mitchell-Horne, Christopher Chestnut of Lawton, Oklahoma, and Shawnkia Chestnut of Atlanta, Georgia. She had twenty-four grandchildren, twenty-nine great grandchildren, and one great-great grandson.
GRAVESIDE SERVICE
Monday
November 2, 2020
11:00 AM
Fort Sill Post Cemetery
900 Donnelly Rd
Fort Sill, OK 73503
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