Mrs. Eleanor Black

The Union of William and Lelia (Bester) Payton was blessed with a delightful daughter on May 1, 1927 in St. Louis, MO.  They named her Eleanor Marie. She accepted Christ at a very young age and was baptized at the First Missionary Baptist Church, St. Louis MO.
 
Eleanor was educated in the St. Louis public school system and continued her education at Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Missouri, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics and Dietetics in 1958. She later returned to college and received a Masters of Science - Nutrition degree in 1980.  She was initiated as a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. in 1956 at Lincoln University, and later became a member of Stamford Connecticut's Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
 
Eleanor met Rev. Orvel Black and they were joined in holy matrimony on May 14, 1961 in Nashville, Tennessee. This union was blessed with a son and a daughter. 
 
 Upon relocating, she united with the First Presbyterian Church of Stamford, Connecticut and later united with Union Baptist Church, Stamford.

Mrs. Black served as district manager for ARA Food Services with client accounts stretching across a 3-state territory for a number of years. Her passion for excellence and high standards blessed her with a 30+ year career and the privilege of working with a multitude of wonderful and caring people.

 
With her children by her side, God called Mrs. Black to her eternal home, on Saturday, January 23, 2010, at St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, California.  She will be missed by her family and all who knew her.
 
She was preceded in death by her husband, Rev. Orvel Black; her brothers and sisters:  William Payton Jr., Grace Elizabeth (Payton) Carter, Arthur Lee Payton, and Charles Spencer Payton. 
 
Left to cherish her memories and await a grand reunion are her son Orvel Black III of Lake George, New York, her daughter, Hilary M. Black of Hattiesburg Mississippi; her brother and his wife, Edgar & Delores Payton of St. Louis MO.; sisters in law, Carolyn Southall and Melba Epps; brother in law, Samuel Black; cousins, nieces, nephews and other relatives.  Also cherishing her memories are her extended family, including Doctor Robert W. Perry and the Union Baptist Church Family, The Stamford Connecticut Public School System, Stamford Hospital, the sorors of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and the numerous people she called her “Angels” who helped her along the way.
 
A funeral service was held at 6:30 PM on Friday, January 29, 2010 in the chapel of Clark S. Brown & Sons Funeral Home with Rev. Fredrick N. Terry, officiating. Interment in Evergreen cemetery.

For a copy of the program click
here.