Paper: Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
Deceased: Neshell W. 'Sunni' Waters
Date: September 11, 1997

A funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 12, 1997, in Mt. Olivet  Baptist Church, 8501 N. Chautauqua Blvd., for Neshell W. ''Sunni'' Waters, who died of cancer on Sept. 6 at age 51.


Mr. Waters was born on Nov. 24, 1945, in Picayune, Miss., and came to  Portland as a baby. He graduated from Jefferson High School and attended  Multnomah College and Portland State University. He was a U.S. Army veteran  and retired from the Oregon Army National Guard with the rank of captain.


Mr. Waters was hired as the first black retail clerk at Fred Meyer in the  mid-1960s after a boycott to pressure the company to hire blacks for those  positions.


He also worked for the Volunteers of America, Oregon Steel Mills and  Tri-Met, where he'd been a driver for the past six years.


He was a member of the Street Corner Singers, an a capella group that  performed in the California Raisins Christmas Special and was the opening act  for several national pop artists, including the Four Tops and Smokey  Robinson.


Survivors include his wife of 26 years, Anita L. ''Star;'' sons, Tyrone,  Eric, Thabiti, Igwe and Nashid, all of Portland; daughters, Rashonda  Waters-Smith of Portland and Kim Hines of California; mother, Ethel Waters, of Portland; sisters, Doris Stevenson, Sherra Neal and Deidre Leary, all of  Portland, and Joysalane Parker of Dallas, Texas; brothers, Spurgin of Upper  Marlboro, Md., and Ismond of Portland; and one granddaughter.


Burial will be in Willamette National Cemetery. Arrangements are by Vann &  Vann Funeral Directors.

Section: OBITUARIES
Page: D10

Copyright (c) 1997 Oregonian Publishing Co.