Pastor Carmen Lavell Everett Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

On June 4, 2022 Pastor Carmen L. Thorogood Johnson Everett peacefully transitioned from this world into God’s welcoming arms. She has reunited with loved ones and joined the Great Cloud of Witnesses of which the bible speaks. Pastor Everett was born on September 9, 1960, and was raised in both Portsmouth and Chesapeake, Virginia. She was the daughter of the late Edward and Luvenia Earl. She was the 2nd eldest of seven children. She loved growing up with her large family and enjoyed spending time in service to God, committing her life to Christ as an adolescent. Her mother, Luvenia, a woman of legendary faith in God, influenced Pastor Everett’s life in many ways, especially in her Christian walk. As a child, she attended Zion Baptist Church and was most recently, a longtime member of Grove Baptist Church in Portsmouth, Virginia, under the leadership of Dr. Melvin O. Marriner, Senior Pastor. Pastor Everett was educated in both the Portsmouth and Chesapeake Public School Systems. She graduated from Deep Creek High School and attended Norfolk State University for two years, where she majored in Mass Communications. She met and married her college sweetheart, during her time at NSU. To the union two children were born (Erica and Eric). After dissolving her first marriage, she later remarried and became a devoted military wife. To this union were added two children, twins (Louis and Lavell). After the second marriage ended, Pastor Everett spent her remaining years focused on her family and the calling God placed upon her life to positively impact the lives of young people. She was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister and friend who doted on her family, and was happiest when surrounded by them. She was also a career woman. She spent 25 years as a Quality Control Analyst and Prayer Counselor at the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It was during these years that Pastor Everett began facing declining health challenges. Many find it hard to believe that she experienced a number of life-threatening health events: two cerebral hemorrhages, three strokes and breast cancer and more. Yet, miraculously, Pastor Everett overcame and survived these unimaginable diagnoses. At times, she questioned why she had been afflicted with so many illnesses, until, one day, God revealed to her that He needed an experienced soldier, one willing to share a message of healing, restoration, and hope to others. Pastor Everett’s suffering would not be in vain, but instead, would become a catalyst to bear witness to God’s deep and abiding love. Following her third stroke, God cleared the path for Pastor Everett’s retirement, which opened the doors of time and the space necessary for God’s next move in her life. After having experienced God’s healing and restoration many times over, she spread the message of God’s love and healing power throughout Virginia and many other states as a guest speaker. She was an overcomer with a testimony – a walking witness of strength to those who chose to believe. In 2000, she was ordained as an Evangelist by the late Prophet Lonnie Morrison of Dominion Christian Center of New York, New York. In 2004, she was ordained Pastor of Nehemiah Restoration International Worship Ministries by Apostle Patricia Williams of the Full Gospel Tabernacle Ministries Worldwide, Inc. She was a gifted speaker and an anointed Pastor. Sickness would not keep her down. She went on to launch “Life Changing Conversations, LLC,” an organization that helps men, women, and children develop skills that improve their quality of life. In 2014, she partnered with the City of Norfolk, Virginia’s Parks & Recreation to establish “Young Ladies with a Purpose through Life-Changing Conversations” at the Berkley and Campostella Recreation Centers. Pastor Everett led weekly small group life-skills training workshops where young women’s lives were transformed. While bridging the gap between lay ministries and traditional ministries, these workshops were the genesis of Pastor Everett’s mentoring program. In 2015 she commenced service to Norfolk State University as Life Coach/Mentor for the Golden Key International Honor Society, the world’s largest collegiate honor society for graduate and undergraduate students. She was also inducted into the organization as an honorary member. She had the distinct honor of mentoring some of NSU’s most talented students, who looked to she and faculty advisors of the organization, for guidance both in life and career development. She also shared her personal faith with students and it resulted in many lives being transformed. Her larger-than-life, convivial personality, unchallenged sense of style, elegance, panache and awesome sense of humor and infectious laugh will be greatly missed. Her charitable heart and generous spirit will always be with those of us who loved and knew her best. Those who remain should know she loved each and every one of us more than we’ll ever know. Her absence from our physical presence did not mean we were absent from her heart. And we were certainly always in her prayers. She simply chose to spend her final days in peace with her children and grandchildren and a few others. She exercised her God-given right to transition in the manner in which she felt best, whilst allowing each of us, her loved ones, fellow believers and friends, to remember her as she was: beautiful, glamorous and unapologetically direct and honest. Her unwavering love for us all will last throughout eternity. Her love is boundless. Her love is never-ending, just like God’s love. Pastor Everett was preceded in death by both of her parents. She leaves to mourn and to cherish fond memories, her children Erica Alexis Johnson Jones, Eric Nathaniel Johnson, Jr., Lavell Bianca Everett and Louis Brandon Everett; her siblings Keith Thorogood, Sharon Joyner, Dr. Micheal Thorogood, Ronald Earl, Donald Earl and Professor Eleanor Earl; her five grandchildren, Zariah Alexandria Johnson, Zamir Alexander Johnson, Isaiah Brandon Johnson, Nadiya Cianna, Johnson Riley and Aubriella Faith Locklear, and a host of wonderful aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.

Pastor Carmen Lavell Everett

September 9, 1960 - June 4, 2022