Mrs. Evelyn Sue Oliveri

Evelyn Sue (Baker) Oliveri, 76, of Emerson, Arkansas, passed away peacefully at home early Sunday morning, October 1st, 2023. She was born at home in Emerson in a four-room sharecropper’s shack. She grew up barefoot in the cotton fields, chopping and picking cotton. She also picked her share of purple hull peas to sell. Before it was considered taboo, she grew up playing cowboys and indians with her sisters. She once opened her mouth at the wrong time and was shot in the back of the throat with an arrow. Fortunately, arrows back then had a rubber suction cup on them, so it only caused gagging and coughing, but she still accused Mary of trying to kill her! We almost lost her when she was a toddler. The family was sitting on the front porch of grandpa and grandma Baker’s four room house with a porch across the front of the house. That porch was the most important part of the house. It was where the family’s peas were shelled, where the milk was churned into wonderful creamy butter, where the kids and grandkids soaked in #3 wash tubs of pine sol water to remove the day’s chiggers and ticks, where visitors were entertained, and where the family and neighborhood problems were hashed out. Anyway, on that particular day, someone gave Evelyn Sue a piece of ice, a rare commodity in those days. A few seconds later, Evelyn Sue was turning blue, and women were screaming and crying. Grandma Baker, the calmest hen in the flock, grabbed her by one ankle, jerking her upside down, then chugging her up and down like she was churning milk! Immediately the ice plopped out on the floor. Evelyn Sue was screaming at the abuse of being chugged like a churn handle and Grandma Baker was the hero of the day. Evelyn graduated from Emerson School in 1965. Her first year of school, Mary would sit at the window every afternoon waiting to see the school bus drop Evelyn Sue off so Mary could run down the long lane to her big sister she hadn’t seen all day. When Kentucky Fried Chicken opened in Magnolia, Evelyn was their manager for several years. She later worked as a board cutter for what is now Willamette in Emerson. After that, Evelyn worked in the office of Miller Pest Control. Evelyn was baptized by Oren Hartsell when she was 12 years old. She has attended Emerson Church of Christ ever since, except for the few years she was living in Fort Worth, where she and Tony attended the Bedford Hills Church of Christ. In 1992, Evelyn and Anthony (Tony) Mario Oliveri were married. They moved to Ft. Worth, TX, where they lived until 2002 when they retired and moved back to Emerson. Evelyn Sue was preceded in death by previous husband Charles Sluss, her parents James Franklin and Wanda (Crabtree) Baker, sister Peggy Jean (Baker) Vaughn, and stepsons, Anthony J. Oliveri and Stephen M. Oliveri. She is survived by her husband Tony, daughter Sonya Annette Sluss, stepdaughter Lois (Charlie) Weir of Atlanta, GA, and Michaela (Miki) Manne of New York, special step grandson Jason Rilings, step grandchildren Nicholas Manne, James Oliveri and family, Tara Lynn Oliveri and Stephanie Oliveri, sister Mary Louise (Baker) Aldridge of Emerson, Aunt Margaret (Baker) Lucas of Chesterfield, VA, special cousins Billy (Dana) Waller, Bobbi Waller and Jimmy Waller of Emerson, special caregiver LaJoyce Hardwell, and a host of cousins and friends. Graveside services will be held Saturday, October 7th, 2023, at Emerson Presbyterian Cemetery in Emerson, Arkansas at 3:00 p.m., under the direction of R.L. Reed Funeral Home, LLC. Honorable Lane Jean, Eulogist. Neither a public visitation nor a public viewing will be rendered. “For precaution due to the COVID-19, Masks are Encouraged but Not Required While Attending the Services.” However, wearing masks ensures safety for you and others. Thank you.

Mrs. Evelyn Sue Oliveri

June 4, 1947 - October 1, 2023

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Mrs. Evelyn Sue Oliveri

June 4, 1947 - October 1, 2023

Obituary Notification

What We Do

Flowers & Gifts

About Us

Resources

Obituaries

Grief & Healing

Contact Information