Mrs. Laura David Roberts Harvel

COLUMBIA – Laura R. Harvel, 87, passed away on Sunday, March 1, 2015. A funeral service will be at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4, 2015 at Spring Valley Baptist Church on Polo Road with burial following the service at Greenlawn Memorial Park on Garner’s Ferry Road. The family will receive friends on Tuesday, March 3, 2015 from 4:00 to 6:00 pm at Dunbar Funeral Home, Northeast Chapel. Born in Mullins, SC on December 13, 1927, she was the eldest daughter of the late Lonnie and Sarah Emma Rogers Roberts. Following the death of her mother in 1934 and the disability of her father, she was raised by her paternal grandmother, Laura Adele Shelley Roberts. In the early 1940’s the family moved from Mullins to a home on Duncan Street in Columbia to provide better educational opportunities for Laura and her sister. Laura was a graduate of Dreher High School and the University of South Carolina where she held the distinction of being the only woman to graduate as an accountant in 1948. During her college years she also played women’s semi-pro basketball. Laura married Lester C. Harvel in 1949 and together they had 4 children; Leslie Ann Harvel, Mary Esther Harvel-Sas, Lester C, Harvel, Jr., and the late Lonnie David Harvel. In addition to her parents, husband and son Lonnie she was predeceased by her great-grandmother and an infant sister. In addition to her daughters and son Lester she is survived by her sister, Elizabeth Ann Roberts Collins, 12 grandchildren, 8 great grandchildren and was joyfully awaiting the birth of 2 more great grandchildren, plus numerous nieces and nephews. Laura was a Charter Member of the Old Tabernacle Baptist Church, which later became North Trenholm Baptist Church. Her husband Lester’s job took her away from Columbia for 23 years but after her return in 1989, she joined Spring Valley Baptists Church which was started by North Trenholm Baptist Church to better meet the spiritual needs of the Northeast residents. She was an active member of Spring Valley Baptist Church’s ministry including the adult choir, children’s ministry, The Ball Club, Valley Voices and her Sunday school class. In lieu of flowers memorial may be made to Inside Out of SC, PO Box 290308, Columbia, SC 29229.