Southampton native Ursula Belle Finney Stephens died January 4. She was 84.
Born December 30, 1931, in Drewyville, Virginia, she was the daughter of Fannie Mae Darden Finney and John Lawrence Dewey Finney, both of whom predeceased her. She attended Southampton High School, graduating in 1949.
Known to most as “Sue,” she attended the First Baptist Church of Bridgehampton. After she graduated high school, she moved to New York City where she worked as a domestic. In the late 1950s, she was employed as a nurse’s aide at Cumberland Hospital in Brooklyn. In the early 1960s, she started work at the Metropolitan Transit Authority as a token booth clerk and later became a station supervisor. After more than 20 years, she retired in the late 1990s.
Ms. Stephens had married Haywood Beverly of Manhattan and the couple had a daughter, Denise Beverly. They divorced in 1965. She later met and married Cecil Stephens in California and they resided in Hamilton, Bermuda, until his death in 1977.
Ms. Stephens is survived by her daughter, Denise Beverly of Atlanta; two brothers, Lawrence Finney of Southampton and Curtis Finney and wife Nancy of Syracuse; grandchildren, Cameron Finney and wife Donna of East Quogue, Cynthia Finney of Virginia, Christopher M. Banks of Brooklyn; and great-grandchildren, Richard Harris, Purnell Pannell, Patrice Pannell, Christina Finney; and great-great-granddaughter, Mikaylah. She is also survived by a godson, Timothy Nelson Jr. of Queens; and a cousin, Mary Richardson of Queens. She was predeceased by a sister, Helen Gilliam; and a daughter, Patricia Banks.
Funeral arrangements were under the direction of the Crowe’s Funeral Homes in Jamaica. Interment was at Pinelawn National Cemetery in Farmingdale.
on Jan 19, 2016