Aug. 16 Obituaries of the Swannanoa Valley
Robert Green
Black Mountain
Robert Daniel Green, Jr., 73, of Black Mountain, passed away Aug. 5, 2018.
Mr. Green was born September 28, 1944 in Buncombe County to the late Robert Daniel Green, Sr. and Clyde Green. He was a veteran of the US Air Force and a member of Trinity Baptist Church.
In addition to his parents, he is preceded in death by his wife, Linda Blankenship Green.
Robert is survived by his sons, Sean C. Green of Black Mountain and Lee Green of Swannanoa; two grandsons, Julian C. Green and Colton Green; and mother-in-law, Jessie Blankenship.
The family received friends on Wednesday, Aug. 8, at Harwood Home for Funerals.
Burial was in Mountain View Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Trinity Baptist Church, 216 Shelburne Road, Asheville, NC 28806.
Harwood Home for Funerals (harwoodhomeforfunerals.com) is assisting the family.
Florence Shelor
Black Mountain
Florence Lillie (Harbert) Shelor, wife of the late Rev. Dr. Richard Gilmer Shelor, died at age 84 on Aug. 6 in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Born on Jan. 30, 1934 in Fredericksburg, Virginia, she grew up in Galax, Virginia, where her father, Guy Morley Harbert, was a civil engineer for the Blue Ridge Parkway and her mother, Hannah Turman Harbert, was a teacher.
Florence graduated from UNC-Asheville. She was an employee of the State of North Carolina Division of Social Services.
She was ordained an elder at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church and enjoyed teaching children, youth and adults there. She was also a volunteer and former board member for Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry and served as President of the Highland Farms Residents’ Association. After her husband’s graduation from Columbia Seminary, they served together in Max Meadows and Wise, VA and Black Mountain, NC.
In addition to her husband and parents, she was preceded in death by her brother, Guy Morley Harbert, Jr. Florence is survived by her sons, John Shelor (Susan) and David Shelor (Merry Lynn); and daughter, Anne Shelor Boyles (Rick), and grandchildren Jennifer Shelor Glass (Doug), John Curtis Shelor (Rachel), Graham Shelor and Lillie Shelor, five great-grandchildren and sister-in-law, Peggy Harbert.
A memorial service is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 20 at 11 p.m. at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church.
Donations may be made in Florence's name to Black Mountain Presbyterian Church and designated for the church’s Weekday School or the church’s work in Ghana or Guatemala.
Ida O'Connell
Black Mountain
Ida Tabuchi O’Connell passed away peacefully at the age of 94 on Tuesday, August 8, 2018, in Black Mountain.
Ida was born in Fairfield, California, the daughter of Takeshi and Ichiye Tabuchi, originally of Kurashiki, Japan. Along with thousands of other Japanese-Americans, the Tabuchi family was interned during World War II. Ida was released from their internment center in Poston, Arizona, to work in various inland cities. She returned to San Francisco, where she worked as a doctor’s assistant before traveling abroad to work as a secretary for the United States State Department. While working at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, she met and married her husband, Thomas B. O’Connell. The new couple moved to Rabat, Morocco, where their two children were born, then to Berkeley, California, and then to Mexico City. Other postings included Brussels, Belgium; Bucharest, Romania; and Washington, D.C. After they retired, they moved from the suburbs of D.C. to Black Mountain, North Carolina. For many years Ida and Tom lived on Lake Tomahawk, next door to their lifelong friends Gay and Joe Fox (whom they met in Tehran), and Harry and Katharine Petrequin (whom they met in Rabat, Morocco).
Ida’s passions included travel, painting, and reading. She was a longtime member of the Sourwood Gallery artists’ cooperative in Black Mountain, and continued to paint for many years. Although she never had the chance to attend college, she took many college-level courses while assisting Tom with his doctorate studies at Berkeley. In 2015, a group of friends, led by Sally Robinson and Nancy Mason of Black Mountain, arranged for Ida to receive her high school diploma from San Benito High School in Hollister, California; at the same time, she also received letters of recognition from President Barack Obama and the Governor of North Carolina.
She is survived by her two children and their families: Anne O’Connell Devereaux and her husband Doug and daughters Katie and Alicia of Falls Church, Virginia; and David O’Connell and his wife Danielle of Hartwood, Virginia. Ida is also survived by three sisters, Sue Imagawa of Belmont, California; Lois Yonemoto of San Francisco, California; and Shigeko Moriya of Kurashiki, Japan, as well a brother, Bob Tabuchi of Fremont, California, and their families. She is predeceased by her husband Tom, who died in Black Mountain in 2013; and her brothers Bill Tabuchi, Isamu Tabuchi, and Roy Tabuchi, and sisters Mineko Moriya and Hana Hori.
A gathering in honor of Ida was held in the Fountain Room, Building J, Givens Highland Farms, Saturday, Aug. 11 at 3 p.m.
Harwood Home for Funerals (harwoodhomeforfunerals.com) is assisting the family.