Oryko Verda Chimaroke

mother Lottie Mae Nunn (Parker) of Cleveland, Ohio and father George Washington of Selma, Alabama.

Verda was the middle child of 4 siblings, older brother Arthur Lee Summers (oldest son, deceased), Mable Ann Stallworth (oldest daughter, deceased), Robert Reynolds (youngest son, deceased), and Henrietta Reynolds (youngest daughter, living). George Washington later remarried Ceola who was step mother to Verda. Verda was sister to Kathleen Washington (deceased), Freda Hubbard, and Lois Washington all of whom remain in Alabama.

Verda Mae attended Carrie Ann Tuggle Elementary school in Birmingham, Alabama and later attended

and graduated from Inkster High School in Detroit, Michigan in 1965. She enjoyed roller skating and

learned how to sew and make clothes at an early age. In the summer of 1965, the family relocated from

Michigan to Palo Alto, California following her grandmother, Mae Moore Parker Nunn and uncle, Claude

Nunn who had relocated earlier to northern California in the 1940s.

Upon arrival in California, Verda decided to design and make clothing for people in the community. Three

years later in 1968, she met and married Roi Douglas Ford. She had a baby boy, Roi Douglas Ford II and

opened her first clothing boutique in Belmont, California. Together, they became extremely successful for

their time.

Between 1969-1977 she ran a successful clothing boutique in the SF Bay Area. In 1978 she divorced, met Thomas Huntsman and had a daughter, Tiffany Mae Moore Huntsman with him in early 1979. Between 1980 through 1986, Verda decided to open another boutique in East Palo Alto with her sister, Henrietta.

During this time she also attended DeAnza College and earned an Associates Degree in Business

Management. It was in 1989 that she underwent a traditional Igbo Nigerian naming ceremony surrounded

by family and friends in Oakland, California. Ultimately changing her legal name to Oryko Verda

Chimaroke which means wealthy one and God within.

She lived and worked in the SF Bay Area for 45 consecutive years before finally deciding to follow her

son Roi to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1999 to retire. Between 1999 and 2024 she enjoyed traveling and

spending time with her six grandchildren Kimberly Ford, Yonus Ford, Eboni Ford, Maya Gabriella

Chimaroke, Sukari Chimaroke, and Solomon Beard. Verda Mae also leaves behind seven great

grandchildren Brayden, Kai, Jordan, Ezra, Eli, Eden, and Gabriella. She also leaves behind her sisters

Henrietta, Freda, and Lois, as well as Sister-in-Law Bertha Summers, and over twenty nieces and

nephews, and endless cousins and extended family that stretch from California to Bermuda and

everywhere in between.

In community she will be known as and remembered as Mama OC, Sister OC, or Oryko. She will most be

remembered for her infectious sense of humor, her dedication to her craft, and her immeasurable loyalty

to her loved ones and family. She will be forever spoken about in the highest regard as the matriarch of

the family, and will be sorely missed and loved, always. She took her last breath on the morning of May,

18th, 2024 and was at home with loved ones.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.palmdowntownmortuary.com for the family of Oryko Verda Chimaroke.