Helen Jethro Sawyer Tarkenton

Helen Jethro Sawyer Tarkenton 90 of 720 Winslow St. Hertford NC went to be with her Lord and Savior on Wednesday May 2 2012 in Albemarle Hospital peacefully surrounded by her family. Mrs. Tarkenton was born in Chowan County and was the daughter of the late John William Sr. and Ora Baker Jethro. A homemaker she had also been employed and retired from the George C. Moore Company in Edenton and was a member of Hertford Baptist Church and the Hannah Holmes Sunday School Class. In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by her husbands Phillip Pete Sawyer and William Tarkenton; a daughter Jean Bruce; two sisters Katherine Williams and Hazel Jethro; a brother John W. Jethro Jr.; and a grandson Phillip Jones. Surviving are her four daughters Jeannette Byrum and husband James of Tyner Catherine Marsh and husband Terry of Huntsville AL Joyce Long and husband Johnny of Tyner and Evelyn Teague of Winston-Salem; three sons Philip Russell Sawyer and wife Barbara of Virginia Beach VA Billy Tarkenton of Elizabeth City and Wayne Tarkenton and wife Sandra of Charlotte; a sister Elsie Matthews and husband Tom of Dunn; 26 grandchildren 36 great-grandchildren and 11 great-great grandchildren. Funeral services will be held on Monday at 2:00 p.m. in the Miller & Van Essendelft Funeral Chapel 1125 Harvey Point Road Hertford by the Rev. Greg Clark and T. J. Long Jr. (Great-grandson). Burial will follow in Beaver Hill Cemetery Edenton. Friends may join the family Sunday from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. in the funeral home and all other times at the residence. Memorial contributions may be made to Hertford Baptist Church PO Box 34 Hertford NC 27944. Online condolences may be made by visiting www.millerfhc.com.