Elizabeth Agbi Elizabeth was named "Lizzie Belle" at the

Elizabeth Agbi Elizabeth was named "Lizzie Belle" at the time of her birth on October 29, 1941, in Hope, Arkansas, to Reverend Smead Powell Easter and Mrs. Ola Belle Easter. She became their fourth child in a sibling group of eight. She passed away May 8, 2025. As a six-year-old when the bus was late, she walked two miles home from Hopewell Elementary School. When asked by her mother how she knew the way, she said she had studied the bus route. This marked an early demonstration of her resourcefulness and resilience. Lizzie Belle changed her name to Elizabeth after kids at school teased her about her middle name, not knowing that Belle meant beautiful in French. Her mother often referred to Elizabeth as her most beautiful child. Growing up in the Jim Crow South brought challenges to her family. About 30 years before she was born, her minister grandfather, Mance Easter, became legendary for standing up to the Ku Klux Klan. Her father rode the ministry circuit and pastored churches in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. In the 1950s, Reverend Easter moved his family to Phoenix, where he no longer had to pay Arkansas Poll Taxes. Reverend Easter became an active leader in the Civil Rights Movement, leading protests and sit-ins. Elizabeth marched alongside her father and sat in at Woolworth on Central Avenue in Phoenix to integrate the lunch counters. After graduating from Hopewell, Elizabeth attended Yerger High School in Hope. When the family migrated to Phoenix, she transferred to South Mountain High School. She often said that she missed her segregated high school because her teachers believed in her and showed they cared often. Following her high school graduation, she enrolled in Maricopa County Community College to study nursing. She became a cardiac nurse. As a nurse to famous patients, she stressed that she believed in treating all patients equally. Her motto was "Be nice, kind, and understanding." Once on Easter Sunday, Elizabeth was pulled aside by a police officer. Once he saw her maiden name was Easter, he let her go. Elizabeth married twice and became a mother to Kevin Moore, Yolanda House, and David House. Following her second divorce, she met the love of her life, Melvin Harrison, who faithfully took care of her for over 40 years while she provided the house and a car. Elizabeth and Melvin met at the Elks Club in Phoenix when he walked up and said, "Do you want to dance?" Elizabeth and Melvin loved dressing up to go out dancing and hanging out at Dotty's in Las Vegas. Her niece Sherri Burr mourns the passing of her gregarious aunt who took her to see The Temptations as a 12-year-old, and helped her mother survive an abusive spouse. Aunt Liz visited Albuquerque, New Mexico, many times to visit her sister Ola Mae and her niece Sherri. Many New Mexicans met Elizabeth at her sister's birthday parties, the New Mexico Press Women Conference that Sherri led, and Sherri's retirement party from University of New Mexico Law School. Other New Mexicans met her in Santa Fe when she attended New Mexico Symphony Concerts and set next to the Mayor of Santa Fe and the retirement party for Supreme Court Justice Charlie Daniels who also hailed from Arkansas. Elizabeth was pre-deceased by her parents, Rev. and Mrs. Easter, and all of her siblings, including Ola Mae Burr Peete, who resided in Albuquerque. Her son Kevin Moore was murdered in 1990 and her son David House died of pneumonia in 1992. Her partner, Melvin Harrison passed away a year before she did. As she grieved his loss, her COPD, congestive heart disease and other co-morbidities spiraled her health downward towards her passing on May 8, 2025. Surviving Elizabeth include: her daughter Yolanda House, grandsons Ron and Robert, 11 grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephew and their children. A month before her passing, her great-nephew Terrance Peete Jr., a former Albuquerque residence, accompanying her to Walmart as she zipped along in a motorized shopping cart. On May 2nd she attended the Western Psychological Conference to watch her great niece, Monique Burr, give her first professional presentation. Elizabeth's favorite sentences were, "I'm fine. You're fine. Everything's fine." Graveside services are at 1:00 pm on May 19, 2025 at East Resthaven Cemetery where Elizabeth wanted to be buried near her mother and her siblings Ola Mae Burr Peete and Ida Burnett.