Lloyia Anne Harvey Vance, 68, of Elkins Park, died March 31, 2012, at home after a long battle with Lewy Body Dementia, a degenerative brain disease.
Affectionately known as “Aunt Llo” and “Aunt Lloyia Anne,” she was born to the late Lloyd William Harvey and Gladys Pendleton Harvey on May 29, 1943, in Abington.
She was raised in the Crestmont section of Willow Grove. Lloyia was baptized at an early age at the First Baptist Church of Crestmont, and in her early teens her family became members of Salem Baptist Church of Jenkintown.
Lloyia graduated from Abington Senior High School in 1961 and attended Temple University for a year before going to work as a teller for the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society (PSFS). She served as a teller at PSFS branches in Center City, North and West Philadelphia, and Cheltenham and Willow Grove in Montgomery County. Lloyia’s final assignment was a mortgage processor for Meritor Mortgage Corporation, a division of PSFS. She semi-retired in 1986. She went back to work to help pay for her children’s college educations, and she worked at various institutions including ADP, GMAC and the U.S. Census Bureau in 1990.
Lloyia met the love of her life, Oscar Palmer Vance Jr. during the mid-1950s.
Her husband remembers that he met Lloyia when he was in ninth grade and she was in seventh. “The first time I saw her, I was sitting on the detention bench, and she was walking down the hall,” Oscar fondly recalled.
The couple dated through the time Oscar joined the Marine Corps in 1959. They were married in 1964 at Salem Baptist Church of Jenkintown by the late Dr. Robert Johnson Smith.
They lived in North Wales, Jenkintown and on a four-acre farm in New Hanover. In 1971, they built their final home in the McKinley community in Elkins Park. Her husband called his wife “Loyal Lady Lloyia” in her final years because as long as she was able, she supported him in every endeavor he pursued, including serving as his bookkeeper and tax preparer for his family business, the Able Janitorial Service, which later became Vance Enterprises, Inc. For all her years, Lloyia was his rock, building the strong foundation allowing him to support his law enforcement career.
In addition to being a financial whiz, Lloyia was a woman of many talents. Her family often referred affectionately to her as the “Black Martha Stewart.” She loved to entertain family and friends and she had a knack for making an everyday get-together a special event. Lloyia loved people and music and was an avid singer. All of these talents, she shared generously with her church home — Salem Baptist Church of Jenkintown.
Lloyia was “Mother of the Year” in the 1970s at Salem, a member of the Board of Trustees, a member of the Inspirational choir, a Maxi-Wagon driver for the students as well as the Adult Citizens Program, and a long-time Salem Federal Credit Union board member for over 25 years.
In addition to her husband, who was at her side when she died, Lloyia is survived by her mother, Gladys Harvey; brother, Wesley Harvey; daughter, Nicole (Walter); son, Oscar III (Wendy); and son, Lloyd (Kelley). She also has eight grandchildren: Sienna, 17; Joshua, 14; Taylor, 14; Maxwell, 12; Shelby, 11; Heaven, 8; Nathaniel, 6; and Brayden, 3; whom she adored and dedicated her retirement years to. She will also be missed by a host of family and friends.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 5, 2012, at Salem Baptist Church in Jenkintown. There will be no viewing.
Donations may be made “In Memory of Lloyia H. Vance to raise awareness of Lewy Body Dementia” to: Abington Memorial Hospital’s Office of Philanthropy, 1200 Old York Road, Abington, Pa. 19001.
