A real estate tax hike of five cents will be recommended to the full Board of Supervisors by its finance committee for advertisement for public hearing.
The real estate increase, if approved, would take the county's current 31 cents per $100 assessed value to 36 cents.
However, supervisors also added language to the proposal that would allow the board to re-evaluate the real estate tax rate if state funding relative to the composite index should change.
The committee took action on the increase Tuesday - and continued to meet at press time - as it wrangled with a budget packed with a host of unknowns.
High on the list of unknowns is the school system's bid to recover about $3 million in state funding lost due to a change in the composite index.
Attorneys from the school system are in the process of seeking a ruling that would allow them to revert back to the lower composite index for a specified time.
General Assembly House Bill 522, regarding pre-consolidation of services funding, is driving the recent legal pursuit of funds.
The county's increased local funding put supervisors in the position of facing over a $3 million deficit in the budget.
Each penny increase in the real estate tax rate generates about $215,000 in revenue, but even with proposed increases, supervisors still face a heavy draw on the surplus in the upcoming budget, estimated at over $2.5 million.
"It will deplete over half the reserves," Tom West, chairman of the finance committee said yesterday. "Next year's (budget) situation will be more critical."
In addition to the real estate tax hike, the finance committee also agreed to recommend an increase from $2 to $3 in the utility tax and to increase from 40 cents to $2.50 the E-911 fee to fund a new high band communications center.
However, E-911 revenue may only be used for specified E-911 needs, Jerry Lovelace, assistant county administrator, reminded the committee.
The increase to $2.50 in the E-911 fee is expected to generate $431,000.
County officials will evaluate a lease/purchase agreement for E-911 equipment, as well as a bid for the lump sum, before deciding their course of action.

By Doug Loftis
Cindy Taylor's three-year-old son Brody Patrick Wright, had fallen asleep Saturday just before she and her husband Marty decided to leave the The Winston race early and beat the rush traffic.
With him in her arms, she remembers hearing a noise and turning slightly to ask her husband Marty, "What's that?"
Before he could even return an answer, "the ground gave out from under us!"
The "ground" Cindy was referring to happened to be the 320-foot walkway accessing Lowe's Motor Speedway at Concord, N.C., to a parking area that is separated by U.S. Highway 29.
The three were among the 107 injured, some critically, when an 80-foot section of the walkway collapsed.
They were almost in the center of the concrete and steel bridge that fell an estimated 18 feet into to the pavement below. Somehow, oncoming traffic from four lanes managed to stop before slamming into the structure.
Cindy spoke briefly with a Gazette-Virginian reporter yesterday from her hospital bed at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C.
She remembers well the "pile of rubble and people piled on top of each other." But the 33-year old mother never let go of her son until a rescuer lifted him from her arms and carried him to a helicopter that was transporting victims to area hospitals.
A television news cameraman actually caught on tape young Brody's rescue, and within minutes the special report was aired on CNN news.
Back home in Lynchburg, Cindy's parents, Jack and Mary Vormittag, were "flipping through the channels" when they watched in shock and disbelief that the young, blond-haired boy they were seeing looked all too much like their own grandson.
Their worst fears were confirmed later Sunday afternoon.
Before the dust of tons of concrete settled, Cindy remembers seeing Marty who was just forward of where she was lying.
"A lot of people were screaming and moaning," Cindy recalled. "A lot of people were in pain."
Rescuers had to cut and pry their way through the rubble in what she said seemed longer than it actually was.
Both she and her husband were having difficulty breathing. Each had collapsed lungs due to broken ribs.
Marty, age 44, works as a respiratory therapist with Lincare in South Boston.
"When he started panicking, I knew things were serious," Cindy said.
Although she doesn't believe she ever lost consciousness, Cindy's next recollection was aboard the helicopter and hearing medical technicians describing another victim who was on board.
She could only see a portion of the gurney upon which the victim, a child, was being attended but who had no identification.
"What's he wearing? she asked. Medical technicians didn't know. The child's clothing had been cut off.
"What about his shoes?" she asked.
"A new pair of white Nikes," they replied.
By coincidence, mother and son were on the same flight heading to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.
On a separate flight, Marty was airlifted to nearby Northeastern Medical Center in Concord.
Young Brody had managed to escape serious injury and was released Monday with only bruises and a few scrapes.
In addition to a collapsed lung, Cindy has a shattered kneecap, a femur that is broken in three places, a broken hip and ankle and injuries to her arm and elbow.
She has already undergone two surgeries to pin the broken femur and faces more surgery in the coming weeks.
Marty's injuries, which include a pierced lung, appear to be less serious and he said that he expects to be discharged by the end of this week.
The three moved to South Boston in January where he works with Lincare, a health services provider.
Like so many others, they are motorsports racing fans and had recently attended events in Atlanta and nearby Martinsville.
Cindy said yesterday that she plans now to watch racing on ESPN from the comforts, and safety, of their home on Fenton Street.
On a more serious note, however, she said "I thank God" that he (Brody) had no internal injuries.
She believes he might have been killed from the impact had she not been carrying him in her arms.

Concord, N.C. (AP) - State engineers Monday ordered a second walkway at Lowe's Motor Speedway closed until they can learn why the track's other pedestrian bridge collapsed, injuring 107 people.
Investigators believe corrosion caused the first walkway to fall onto U.S. Highway 29 Saturday night. The walkways, 500 yards apart, are no more than 5 years old.
The second bridge has a rust spot-described as no bigger than a nickel and the only visual sign of possible trouble-but that was enough to lead to its indefinite closure.
With the second walkway out of commission for Speed Week, which begins Wednesday with qualifying for Saturday's Coca-Cola 600, fans will have to use a crosswalk to navigate U.S. 29.
"We will not allow the reopening of this bridge until we know what went wrong, and the track agreed to close it," said Benton Payne, division engineer for the state Department of Transportation. "We will need to see a report on why the bridge collapsed and make sure the other bridge doesn't have the same problems before it can open."
An 80-foot section of the 320-foot walkway connecting the track to a parking lot crashed 17 feet onto the highway as fans left The Winston, NASCAR's all-star race. Forty-eight people were still hospitalized Monday, two in critical condition.
Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Winstead said half of the fans use the walkways; the rest cross at street level. Officials were working on contingency plans Monday for getting larger crowds across the road.
Don Idol, an assistant bridge inspection engineer with the state transportation department, said the collapsed walkway bristled with rusted, half-inch steel cables, which wouldn't have been visible when it was intact. Several 3-foot cracks are visible beneath the three remaining spans of the ruined bridge, another sign of possible corrosion, he said.
"It had to be corrosion, but I've never seen anything like this before, especially in a 5-year-old bridge," Idol said. "A bridge like this usually has a life span of 50-plus years before you see corrosion."
Investigators said moisture on the steel cables may be the only logical explanation for corrosion, but they were unsure how water could have gotten into the concrete.
Because the speedway owns the walkway, no official agency is overseeing the investigation and the track will use its own engineers to determine what went wrong.
"The DOT is not a policing agency," Payne said.
Nick Graf, division administrator for the Federal Highway Administration, said his agency is looking into the collapse and will submit a report to officials in Washington, who have requested information.
Federal highway bridges and North Carolina state pedestrian and highway bridges are inspected every two years, but the speedway was under no inspection timetable, he said.
Track officials have been unable to say when the bridge was last inspected. Speedway president Humpy Wheeler said two staff civil engineers and project managers "are constantly monitoring everything" at the speedway.
"Any concrete, you're watching all the time for cracks and you find them, it's not uncommon, "Wheeler said. "You try to stay on top of them as best as you can."
The state periodically inspected the walkway as it was being built and signed off on it, but not before recommending that the speedway use stronger concrete sections.
The ruined walkway section was moved late Sunday to another sited at the speedway, where track investigators are examining it. The rest of the structure remained in place, with a big gap over the southbound lanes of U.S. 29.

A small fire at Halifax County High School resulted in an evacuation of students and administrative staff from the building Monday morning shortly before classes.
The fire occurred from a drafting display in the lobby, which lit up in flames while students were gathered to prepare to enter their classrooms.
The school was experiencing a power outage, resulting from a falling limb, when the fire took place.
A suspect is under investigation by the South Boston police and could face a felony charge of arson, and, if a student, expulsion from the school.
Principal Larry Clark said he walked out on to the landing overlooking the lobby at about 8:25 a.m. and spotted the flames to the left of him where a drafting display was placed in the lobby.
Marshall Wilkins, a ninth-grader, responded to the fire by grabbing a fire extinguisher about six feet from where he was standing and he put out the fire.
"I always wanted to be a fire fighter," said Wilkins, who joined the Triangle Volunteer Fire Department about two weeks ago.
Wilkins, the son of Cecil and Sarah Wilkins of Nathalie, was waiting for classes by the display cases outside the gym when he noticed the flames about 10 to 15 feet away.
Once the flames were out, Wilkins handed the extinguisher to a custodian and helped evacuate students out the doors as the lobby filled with a light smoke.
Because of the power outage, there was no alarm or PA system, however the evacuation of students was conducted in an orderly manner.
Junior firemen in the school also assisted in the evacuation.
"It's not the kind of emergency one plans for," Clark said, as the students were not under regular fire drill rules for they had not yet gone to class where a teacher would have taken charge.
"It was out of the ordinary, however the students, teachers and staff reacted appropriately," Clark said.
Along with South Boston police and the Halifax County Sheriff's office, the South Boston Fire Department responded with two units at 8:40 a.m. and set up four fans to clear the building of smoke, according to Capt. Steve Phillips.
As for Wilkins, Clark said the school was fortunate that "he had the presence of mind to go to the nearest firebox."
Dennis Witt, superintendent of Halifax County schools, said, "his actions were quick and appropriate ... you could say he's a hero."
"I don't think I'm a hero," Wilkins said, "I just did what I had to do."
Phillips said the smoke was cleared from the building within an hour and ten minutes and the power had been restored within that time.
Clark saw a silver lining by the fact that the power outage meant that the air conditioning system was off - perhaps preventing the smoke from filtering into the classrooms.
Phillips said the smoke was confined to the lobby other than what escaped through the doors on the second floor.
"It's hard to judge that call without knowing the (air conditioning) equipment," Phillips said.
A short time after the incident, Clark said he received a report from the South Boston police of an alleged suspect.
While Clark said the school could recommend permanent expulsion if a student were involved, Witt said there would be a prosecution to the fullest.
"That kind of behavior is totally unacceptable," said Witt.
Investigator B.K. Lovelace is in charge of the investigation.

South Boston Town Council reviewed possible issues for discussion at their upcoming planning retreat during a pre-planning session Monday evening.
Town Council will hold a two-day strategic planning retreat June 16 - 17, at a site in Halifax County.
The site for the retreat is yet to be determined.
Mayor Glen Abernathy requested the pre-planning meeting in order for council members to "receive and discuss what common goals, visions and long-range policies you (council) think are important for discussion at the retreat."
The purpose of the planning retreat is to create an environment for council and town staff to focus on strategic planning goals for the fiscal years 2000-2001 and 2001-2002.
Some areas considered for discussion include possible consolidation of county and town services including an E-911/Emergency Services Dispatch Center, a joint landfill operations and consolidated recycling program and a consolidated library for Halifax County.
According to Town Manager Ted Daniel, continued emphasis should be on improvement of town services and post-boundary adjustment issues.
"We (town staff) are asking council to help us with setting strategic goals for the next two years," said Daniel.
Areas under consideration for improving town services are streetscape improvements, town entrance beautification at the Route 360 - Hamilton Boulevard intersection and development of additional recreational land adjacent to the industrial park baseball fields through a contract with Re-Use Technologies.
"We should continue to set goals concerning post-boundary adjustment, keeping our 'eyes on the ball' to provide quality town services to recently annexed town areas.
"Once we get through the tobacco warehouse block grant issue, we should pursue some mini-development block grant programs for increased water and sewer service extensions out Route 360 to Shepherd's Gate subdivision," Daniel said.
Retail development of downtown South Boston is also a possible topic of discussion on the agenda.
One suggestion by town staff was to identify a strategy during the retreat to work with the town's and county's Industrial Development authorities to recruit retail stores and a restaurant to the downtown area complementing the development of the Continuing Education Center (CEC) and the Prizery.
In conjunction with this strategy, it was suggested by town staff to pursue future designation as a Virginia Main Street Program Community by initiating a Start-Up Community application in the fiscal year 2000-2001.
Mayor Abernathy ended the session by asking council to consider individual preferences for appointments and assignments during the upcoming fiscal year for council committees, as well as for commissions, boards and the joint committees with the Halifax County Board of Supervisors.

Timothy Leon Clark, 26, of South Boston, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday in 10th District Circuit Court for cocaine distribution.
Judge William L. Wellons suspended all but two years and nine months of Clark's sentence on condition of Clark's good behavior for 10 years after his incarceration.
The court also ordered a probationary period of two years for Clark upon his release.
Clark was remanded to custody.
· Michael Lee Carrington, 20, of Nathalie, had 18 months of his previously revoked prison sentence reinstated on Friday for violation of his probation conditions.
Carrington will serve one year in prison for his previous conviction of marijuana distribution and six months for his prevous conviction for a concealed weapon.
Carrington was remanded to custody following the hearing.
· Joseph Eric Leonard, 29, of Wilmington, N.C. had his request for bail denied at a bond hearing on Friday.
Leonard was arrested in connection with the shooting death of William Joseph Fancher of Franklinville, N.C.
Fancher was shot at a residence on Chappel Trail in the Vernon Hill community on February 6, 2000.

If there were any doubts about Halifax County's hitting ability, the Comets set them aside Monday night.
With 15 hits including three homers and four extra base hits, the Comets slaughtered Albemarle 12-2 in six innings to win Monday's Western District playoff game in Lynchburg.
The win gives the Comets an automatic berth in next week's Northwest Region Tournament and the regular season Western District title.
"We've been waiting all year for them to explode with the bats," Comets coach Kelvin Davis said.
"Basically that's what we did. We had four or five guys that had two or more hits."
R.D. Cole led the Comets attack with a three for night at the plate that included a three run homer in the sixth inning a run scoring triple in the fourth inning.
Cole finished with four RBIs and scored three runs himself.
Josh Milam was also three for three at the plate with a double among his trio of safeties.
"I was seeing the ball well," said Milam.
"It came up there and just looked good all night."
And, Brian Medley was three for four for the night including a double, a home run, and two RBIs.
Todd Meadows was two for three with one of his hits being a double.
Four other players, including Chad Compton who had the first of the team's three homers on the night, had a hit each.
"Tonight we came out and did like we wanted to and put the bat on the ball," Milam pointed out.
"We know we can swing the bats now. That's the only doubt we had coming in."
The Comets did not see Albemarle's ace lefthander Thomas Martin on the hill Monday night.
Instead, the Comets saw sophomore Derek Wilson and then Joe Feola in the late innings
Davis said he doesn't feel that the absence of Martin on the mound was the reason the Comets enjoyed one of their best offensive nights of the season.
"We were expecting to see him," Davis said of Martin.
"They thought we were going to face the lefthander. We were ready for him."
Albemarle coach Jim Garnett said the difference in Monday's game and the two previous nail biters between the two teams rested in the pitching.
"They had their ace going and we didn't have ours," Garnett said.
"We had a sophomore getting his first start in the district. He did a good job to start with and then we didn't make a couple of plays behind him and Halifax showed they can hit the ball real well. I think that was the difference."
The Comets also got a good night's work from hurler Mike Priest, who helped his own cause with a base hit.
Priest, coming back after having a nightmare of a night late last week against GW, allowed two hits, gave up three walks and struck out seven batters.
Yet, he wasn't as sharp in hitting his spots around the plate as he has been in a number of previous games.
"I didn't have it tonight," Priest said.
"I told coach I was a little light headed and dizzy. But, the defense behind me, everyone made plays perfectly.
"Chris Parker had a heck of a game at third base and R.D. (Cole) and the whole outfield came through just like they do every game," he added.
The Comets broke out to a 2-0 lead with two out in the top of the second inning when Cole got his first hit of the contest and Compton plated him with a homer.

Albemarle roughed Priest up in the bottom of the inning when Jason Shifflet doubled and scored on a hit by John Halliday. Halliday scored later in the inning on a wild pitch by Priest to tie the game.
From that point, Priest spun four hitless innings. He gave up a walk in each inning but some nifty defensive work that included a double play in the fourth inning kept Priest and the Comets out of hot water.
Halifax County broke the game open with a four run rally in the top of the fourth inning that started with a double by Medley. Meadows followed with another double that scored Medley and put the Comets up 3-2.
A triple from Cole put the Comets up 4-2 and Cole scored when Compton reached base on an error to give the Comets a 5-2 lead. Milam followed with a double that plated Compton to put the Comets up 6-2.
Medley's solo homer to lead off the top of the fifth inning gave the Comets a 7-2 lead.
The Comets capped the contest with a big five run rally in the top of the sixth inning that was highlighted by a three run homer by Cole to push the lead to 10 runs at 12-2.
Albemarle failed to score in the bottom of the sixth inning, forcing the game to be stopped under a slaughter rule at that point.

Varsity Baseball
Halifax Co.
PLAYER AB R H RBI
Hastings, rf 3 0 0 0
Brewer, lf 1 0 0 0
Moore, lf 2 0 0 0
Thompson, rf 2 1 1 0
Priest, p 4 1 1 0
Medley, ss 4 3 3 2
Meadows, 1b 3 1 2 1
Smith, 1b 1 1 1 1
Cole, ss 3 3 3 4
Compton, c 4 2 1 2
Milam, cf 3 0 3 1
Parker, 3b 4 0 0 0
TOTALS 34 12 15 11
Albemarle
PLAYER AB R H RBI
Shiflet, 2b 3 0 0 0
Feala, cf 3 0 0 0
Martin, 1b 2 0 0 0
Shiflett, c 2 1 1 0
Halliday, rf 2 1 1 0
Chandler1b 2 0 0 0
Malikam, rf 2 0 0 0
Johnson, ss 1 0 0 0
Cantou, 3b 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 18 2 2 0
Halifax Co. 0 2 0 4 1 5--12
Albemarle 0 2 0 0 0 0-- 2

Halifax County High School's varsity girls softball team failed Monday in its bid to win the Western District regular season title and land an automatic berth in the Northwest Region Tournament in a 2-1 loss to Albemarle in a district playoff game in Lynchburg.
The win over the Comets gives Albemarle the automatic berth in the Northwest Region Tournament and the top spot in the final Western District regular season standings.
Now, the Comets, who will face GW here tonight at 7 p.m. must win tonight in order to get into Friday night's Western District championship game and land a spot in the regional tournament.
"It was a big loss," Comets coach Melanie Saunders said of her team's defeat in Monday's playoffs.
"You could see the girls were let down after the game. But, I told them afterward that we have a big game ahead Wednesday (tonight) that can put us in position to get into the regionals and we need to work hard."
The story for the Comets pretty much mirrored what has occurred in several previous games in that they hit the ball well early but didn't late in the game.
They got two of their five hits in the game in the first inning and added a hit in the second, third and fourth innings.
But, they couldn't get anything going in the final three inning in which they were retired in order.
"It looks like we hit the ball well in the beginning of the game and then we just quit hitting," Saunders said.
"It looks like we just kind of die down."
On the other hand, Albemarle, which had experienced some difficulty in hitting against the Comets, saw its bats get hot, hot enough to produce eight hits in the game.
Albemarle backed up a double with a base hit in the top of the third inning to score a run to tie the game.
And, in the fifth inning, the Patriots took advantage of two Comets errors to plate what was to turn out to be the game winning run.
The Patriots out hit the Comets eight to five. And, they came up with the right hit at the right time.
"They hit the ball hard," Saunders said of the Patriots.
"Their coach said this was the best they had hit all season. They hit the ball all through the game. They had one or two runners on base every inning."
That, Saunders, said, didn't have a negative reflection on the effort of Comets hurler Anna Lewis who allowed only one walk in the game.
"Anna did a good job," Saunders stated.
"And, our defense, for the most part, made the plays behind her."
Halifax County grabbed the early lead with Brandi Conner leading off the first inning for the Comets with a triple and scoring on a bunt single by Shonda Welch.
Welch stole second base and third base. Nicole Davis walked with two out but the inning ended when Lindsay Stolzenthaler struck out, leaving two runners on the sacks.
Varsity Softball
Albemarle
PLAYER AB R H RBI
Girdler, cf 4 0 0 0
Wilson, lf 4 0 1 0
Flint, p 4 1 1 0
Amiss, c 4 1 1 0
Cranford, 3b 4 0 2 0
Almond, rf 2 0 0 0
Hanley, 1b 4 0 1 0
Gibson, 2b 4 0 1 0
Purvis, ss 3 0 1 0
TOTALS 33 2 8 0
Halifax Co.
PLAYER AB R H RBI
Conner, ss 3 1 1 0
Welch, cf 3 0 1 0
Best, c 3 0 0 0
Lewis, p 3 0 1 0
Davis, 1b 3 0 0 0
Stolzenthaler, 3b 3 0 1 0
Armistead, 2b 2 0 1 0
Moon, lf 2 0 0 0
Foster, rf 3 0 0 0
TOTALS 26 1 5 0
Albemarle 0 0 1 0 1 0 0--2
Halifax Co. 1 0 0 0 0 0 0--1

Alice Kevorkian Hall, age 72, of 2001 Cowford Road, Halifax, died May 21, 2000, at Duke University Medical Center.
Mrs. Hall was born in Cambridge, Mass. on January 14, 1928, the daughter of Michael Kevorkian and Natasha Kevorkian and was married to Julian Palmer Hall. She was a member of St. Paschal's Catholic Church, the Halifax Woman's Club and the Halifax Garden Club.
Survivors include her husband; two daughters, Christine Hall-Sizemore and husband Dick Hall-Sizemore of Richmond and Elizabeth 'Lisa' Hall of Nags Head, N.C.; one granddaughter, Dr. Alice Hall-Sizemore of Charlottesville; one brother, Michael Kevorkian of Paris, France; and one brother-in-law, John Hall of St. Augustine, Fla.
A funeral mass for Mrs. Hall was held May 23 at 11 a.m. at St. Paschal's Catholic Church with Father Mathias Newell and Father Jim Fosnot conducting the service. Burial was in Halifax Memorial Gardens.

Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider a charity of choice.

Edna Booker Hall Carter, age 88, of 2228 Howard P. Anderson Road, Halifax, died May 22, 2000, at The Woodview.
Mrs. Carter was born in Halifax on January 27, 1912, the daughter of William Bailey Hall and Betty Olds Hall and was married to Gilbert Thomas Carter. She was a member of Winns Creek Baptist Church.
Funeral services will be held today, May 24 at 11 a.m. at Powell Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Richard Welch conducting the service. Burial will take place in Winns Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.
Surviving Mrs. Carter are two daughters, Barbara C. Helms and husband, John of Villa Rica, Ga. and Cindy C. Johnson and fiance, Raymond Langford of Clarksville; three sons, Jerry T. Carter and wife, Gail and Leo B. Carter and wife, Marjorie, all of Church Road and William L. Carter of Halifax; seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider the Patsy Lloyd Fund at Winns Creek Baptist Church.

Margaret Lynne Owen, age 55, of Richmond, died May 22, 2000, at Ginter Hall West in Richmond.
Miss Owen was born in Halifax County on October 30, 1944, the daughter of William Leonard Owen and Margaret Louise Carter Owen. She was a member of Arbor Baptist Church.
Survivors include one sister, Kay Owen Pugh and her husband, Rolland Pugh of Winston-Salem, N.C.; one niece and nephew, Kelly Pugh and Craig Clement, both of Winston-Salem.
Funeral services for Miss Owen will be held May 25 at 11 a.m. at Powell Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Averette Witcher conducting the service. Burial will take place in Oak Ridge Cemetery.
The family will receive friends at Powell Funeral Home this evening, May 24 from 7:00 until 8:30.

Elnora Shorts Vass, age 77, of 1403 Hicks Street, South Boston, died May 21 at Halifax Regional Hospital.
Mrs. Vass was born in Halifax County on August 24, 1922, the daughter of Martin T. Shorts and Sallie Marable Shorts and was married to Ernest Alexander Bass. She was a member of Mt. Olive Baptist Church.
Survivors include two daughters, Juanita Copeland of Philadelphia, Pa. and Lauretta Vass of South Boston; one son, Ernest Vass of South Boston; six grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; two sisters, Rosa E. Gee of South Boston and Mary Frances Shorts of Yeadon, Pa.; and one brother, James N. Shorts of Akron, Ohio.
Funeral services for Mrs. Vass will be held May 25 at 11 a.m. at Mt. Olive Baptist Church with the Rev. Dr. James M. Crowder officiating. Burial will follow in Oak Ridge Cemetery.

The family will receive friends at the home of Lauretta Vass, 1121 Park Lane, South Boston and also at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Vass, 113 Meadow Drive, South Boston.