Neva Locker

Neva Locker, 85, of 5th Street NW, Carrollton, died Monday, February 6, 2012, in the Cleveland Clinic following a two month illness. Born October 19, 1926, in Carrollton, she was a daughter of the late Fred and Ada Karns Duvall. A 1944 graduate of Carrollton High School, Mrs. Locker received a bachelor of public school music degree from Capital University in 1948 and began her teaching career at Magnolia School, where she taught both instrumental and vocal music in grades 1-12 for ten years. She became choral director at Sandy Valley High School in 1954, a position she held until 1959 when she married Ray Locker. Neva also served as choir director at the United Brethren Church in Magnolia from 1949-59. In 1957, she organized a small barbershop group called the “Chorettes” which later became The Carroll Tones Chapter of Sweet Adelines, Inc. Under her direction, The Carroll Tones presented some 25 annual musicals which she also wrote and produced. In the meantime, she continued to give private instrumental and vocal music lessons from 1959-1975 and operated the former Duvall Sale Barn on SR 43 where auctions were held every Tuesday night. She also served as a substitute music teacher in the Carrollton and surrounding school districts following her retirement from teaching at Sandy Valley. She was a lifetime member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Carrollton where she directed the choir since 1954, taught Sunday School and was a member of the Worship Committee. She also held memberships in the Carroll County Commission for the Advancement of the Arts, Carrollton High School Alumni Foundation, American Association of Retired Teachers, Delta Kappa Gamma, Ohio Music Education Association and Carroll County Retired Teachers Association which she was elected President in 2008 for two terms. Honors received by Mrs. Locker included being inducted into the Carrollton Schools Alumni Foundation’s Hall of Fame, Charter Membership of the Carroll Tones Sweet Adelines, Carrollton Civic Club’s Distinguished Service Award, Carrollton Music Study Club’s Musician of the Year Award, Carrollton Chamber of Commerce Golden Shovel Award and a 55 year Delta Kappa Gamma service award. She is survived by a son, Fred (Joy) Locker of Canton; a grandson, Erick Locker, a junior at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania; and numerous nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews, and great great neices and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ray, whom she married in 1959 and who died in 1999. Two brothers, William and Victor, and four sisters, Mildred Reed, Wilma Duvall, Eva Jessie Coffy and Mary Shultz, are also deceased. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, February 10, 2012 in the Trinity Lutheran Church in Carrollton with Rev. Charles Horn and Rev. J. Andrew Riggs officiating. Burial will follow in Westview Cemetery in Carrollton. Visitation will be from 4-7 p.m. Thursday at Sweeney-Dodds Funeral Home in Carrollton. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Lake Center Christian School Vocal Music Department, 12893 Kaufman Avenue NW, Hartville, OH 44632.

Neva Locker

October 19, 1926 - February 6, 2012