~Service~
Saturday, March 12, 2016
11:00 a.m.
St. Luke Baptist Church
315 S. 2nd St.
Crockett, TX  75835

~Burial~
Union Prairie Cemetery
Crockett, TX



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Our dear mother returned to her sender and Savior, the Lord Jesus, on March 7, 2016 after 87 marvelous years on loan to her adoring family and friends. Mrs. Earlie Lee Groves Marshall was born on February 27, 1929 in Crockett, Texas to Silas Marshall and Palmetta Green Marshall.  She grew up on a farm in Porter Springs, Texas and was valedictorian of the spring 1947 class of Williams High School.  She studied Home Economics at Mary Allen College and later graduated from beauty school, becoming a licensed cosmetologist. She married Oscar "Son" Groves Jr., also of Porter Springs, and started a family.  She was a wife, mother, and entrepreneur: she owned and operated her own salon for several years. She later accepted God's call to preach the gospel and became a licensed minister.

Mrs. Groves loved God and highly valued family, education, and community service.  She taught her children and grandchildren the importance of knowing God personally through Jesus Christ. As in many things, she led by example establishing a legacy of Christian devotion, civic responsibility and community involvement. She served faithfully in her church and community. Among other activities, she was a volunteer musician at the local senior care centers, a former Crockett AARP President, an active voter registration advocate, and a Religion writer for the Groves Standard Newspaper. Her ultimate legacy, however, is her family's successes and endeavors in Christian ministry, education, and community service.

She is survived by one sister, Mrs. Fadine David of Crockett, Tx; by her children: Dr. Helen King(George) of Huntsville, Texas; Billy "Hollywood" Groves (Owner/Publisher:Groves Standard Newspaper) of Crockett, Tx; Dr. Brenda Atchison (Delvin) of Dallas, Tx; Dr. Ianthia Fisher (Jimmy) of Crockett, Tx; Victoria Essien, M.Ed., (Martin) of Houston, Tx, and Dr. Ruth Watson-Houston (Lester) of Spring, Tx.  She is also survived by her loving stepson, the Rev. Oscar Henderson (Araceli) of Crockett, Tx. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, eight siblings, and a grandson: Sisters- Ollie V. Houston, Madie G. Ard, Alustree "Dimple" Whitman, and Laverne Brown; Brothers-Silas "Booker" Marshall, Billy Marshall, Edward Marshall, Freddie Marshall and her eldest grandson, Isang Essien.  She will be greatly missed by her many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.  In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests that memorial donations be made to the Groves Educational Foundation, a 501c 3 organization established in 1996. Contributions may be mailed to 312 S. 4 ^th St., Crockett, Texas 75835.