Velda May Harvey, 88, Emporia, formerly of Valley Falls, died Thursday, May 18, 2017, at Newman Regional Health Hospital at Emporia.

She was born Jan. 14, 1929, at Rome, MO, the daughter of Virgil O. and Claudia E. Selvidge Mendel.

Velda lived much of her life at Ava, MO. She moved to Valley Falls, in 1989, and then to Emporia, in 2012. She had worked in the housekeeping departments at Village Villa Care Center at Nortonville, and at Jefferson County Memorial Hospital at Winchester. She was a member of the Valley Falls Christian Church.

She married Clifford Harvey, Dec. 9, 1946, at Mountain Home, AR. They divorced. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Linda Dunlap.

Survivors include her son, Steven Harvey, Emporia; two brothers, R. J. Mendel, Ava, MO, and Gary Mendel, Corpus Christi, TX; a sister, Marie Huff, Ava, MO; four grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

A Memorial Service will be at a later date at the Lighthouse Baptist Church in Emporia. Memorial contributions may be made to the church and sent c/o Mercer Funeral Home, PO Box 6, Valley Falls, KS 66088.