Alva Ann Graves

Alva Ann (Saunders) Graves, 84, transitioned to her heavenly home on Friday, October 22, 2021, at Good Samaritan Care Center in Evansville, IN, due to natural causes. Alva was born on March 20, 1937, to the late Rueben Saunders Sr. and Carrie Davis Morgan in Lexington, KY.

She graduated from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington, and later relocated to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and married John Gillis. To this union, one daughter was born, Louwana Gillis. Alva studied nursing and became a Certified Nurses Aid (CNA) and Rehabilitation Technician. In 1973, she moved to Morganfield, KY, and married the late Theodore Graves. She was employed at Earle C. Clements Job Corps Center in Morganfield, KY, as a Certified Nurses Aid and worked at Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, from where she retired after ten years of service. Alva had a passion for people and loved spending time with her family, bird watching, and playing BINGO in her spare time. She was a faithful member of Memorial Baptist Church.

She was preceded in death by her daughter: Louwana Gillis; sons: Randall Saunders and Anthony Saunders; stepdaughter: Veronica Grave; brother: Rueben Saunders Jr.; sisters: Jeanne Morgan and Jackie Parris; great-grandson: Meycio McClure.

Survivors include her children: Della Brown (Henderson, KY), Dorothy Spaulding (Evansville, IN), Luther Saunders (Owensboro, KY), Michael Graves (Ocala, FL); Stepchildren: Ronnie Graves, Greg Graves, Timothy Graves, and Ivan Graves (Lexington, KY); sisters: Patricia Morgan, Joyce Brown (Clarence), Diane Morgan, Tina Jackson, Shirley Newby, Joequetta Jackson; brothers: James Morgan Jr., Richard Morgan, Aaron Morgan, Gary Morgan; 14 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild to whom she was affectionately known as "Granny Alva." She also had a host of nieces, nephews, relatives, and a wide circle of friends.

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