Una Belle Berryhill

Una Belle Berryhill was born on Aug. 8, 1918, in Greenville, Miss., the daughter of Walter Sams and Bertie Davidson Sams.  

She died, at the age of 102, on Aug. 13, 2020, in Cape Girardeau, at the Life Care Center.

She was preceded in death by three brothers, Edward, Raymond and Harold, and two sisters, Lula Moore and Ruby.  

She married Jeffery Berryhill, who preceded her in death. The couple had one son, Walter Berryhill.

As a young woman she worked in Cairo at the S.H. Kress and Co. “dime store,” the Dairy Queen and later at Camelot School as a parent volunteer.  

She kept the nursery at Cairo Baptist Church for more than 20 years, where she met the Bonifield family coming to work for them in 1978. She worked for them over 30 years, first as a baby sitter and then as a homemaker.   

She was a very good cook. Having grown up in Mississippi, she drew from a wide variety of menus and knew the entire process of housekeeping very well.

She soon became an invaluable and devoted member of the Bonifield family. 

She was always a ready source of information about the history of Cairo, having lived and worked there all her adult life. She knew everyone...and all about the city’s history and of how it evolved, having lived through much of it in her lifetime during this past 100-plus years.

Una Belle was a pet lover, having one special cat, “Pukey” (must have been southern for pretty), for about 20 years.

She was especially fond of children and in her work at Cairo Baptist Church nursery came to know families throughout the area, having learned about them best through the care of their children. She will be greatly missed by many.

Funeral services for Una Belle Berryhill were at 11 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 20, at the Mighty Rivers Regional Worship Center in Cairo. Dr. Larry Potts officiated. Burial was in Green Lawn Memorial Gardens in Villa Ridge.

To view the full obituary or to leave an online condolence for the family, visit www.crainsonline.com.