SERVICE

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

11:00 AM

Antioch Baptist Church

601 Bonner Street

Rev. Virgil L. Nesbit, Jr., Pastor

Rev. John W. Woods, Jr. Eulogist

VIEWING PRIOR TO SERVICE ONLY

09:50 AM - 10:50 AM

Venson “Vens” Edwin Fields, Sr.

. . . . was born November 2, 1938, in Slidell, LA to Harry Benjamin Fields and Catherine Viola Thomas Fields. He was the fourth of ten children. At an early age, Venson joined Hartzell United Methodist Episcopal Church and accepted our Lord, Jesus Christ as his Savior.

Venson attended schools in St. Tammany Parish and graduated from St. Tammany High School in 1957. He moved to Enid, OK, joined St. Stephen’s AME church, and started his career with Serv Air as an aircraft mechanic at Vance AFB. After a two-year stint in the Army, Venson returned to Serv Air at Sheppard AFB, where he received recognition in forming the 3630 Flying Training Wing. He enjoyed a 39-year career at Sheppard, retiring in 2001.

Venson married Bonell Lawrence in 1961 and to this union three children were born: Melonee Ann Fields and Pamela Yvette Fields (both of Dallas) and Venson Edwin Fields, Jr. (Enid). In 1969, Venson and the late Willie Faye Battle Teague married. Linda Hale (Marshall, TX) and Sheryl Ware (Wichita Falls) became God Children. In 2007, Venson married Maxine Allen Kennedy and gained a stepson, Alan (Jennifer) Kennedy (Rochester, MN).

Serving the Lord and community was important to Venson. For more than three decades, he served as a trustee, choir member and steward at Ball Chapel AME. When Ball Chapel closed, he joined Anderson Chapel AME. In the community, he was an active member of Key West Lodge #257, the Prince Hall Masons, and the Machinists’ Union.

Venson is preceded in death by his parents, Harry Benjamin Fields and Catherine Fields; brothers, Theadore Roland Fields, Harry Beverly Fields, Felton Bertrand Fields, Herbert Emile Fields, and Frederick Leroy Fields; brothers-in-law, William Allen and Daniel Allen; sister-in-law, Martha Allen; and God daughter, Sheryl Ware.

In addition to Maxine and the children, others mourning Venson’s death include his sister, Catherine Fields Butler Williams (DeSoto, TX); brother, Alvin Fields (Gramercy, LA); sisters-in-law, Cecile Banks and O’Linda (Edgar) Barnett (both of Wichita Falls, TX); brother-in-law, Andrew L. (Gladys) Lawrence (Enid, OK); 6 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.