DAVETTE NAOMI BIVINS
SUNRISE: May 20, 1932
SUNSET : November 21, 2022
Davette was the 8th living child of Rev. Ira R & Hazel F. Bivins. Born on May 20, 1932. Davette came to know Jesus as her Savior at a very young age. She re-dedicated herself at the age of 9, while singing & dancing across the street from a Gaither’s Brothers Revival Tent meeting on Mulberry Street in Newark, NJ. (At the time she didn’t have permission to cross big streets. Though they kept asking for her to come on over). Davette was the child that accompanied Rev. Bivins as his un-official armor-bearer when he preached at visiting churches. Holding her Poppa’s Big Bible, hankerchief & his hat in her lap, until he was ready to deliver the WORD...
She attended the Newark School System and went to Eastside High School, by that time the Bivins’ had moved from the Ironbound section of Newark lovingly known as “the Neck” to their house in the Roseville section of Newark, at 126 So. 12th Street. Davette stayed in East Side where she followed in her big sister Tina footsteps in singing in “All City, All State Choirs and representing New Jersey in various competitions on the East Coast. This activity and being a founding member of the Polyphonics with her best friend Elaine. Honed her contralto voice, said by many, to sound like Leontyne Price, the opportunity to try out for the television show, Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts Hour where she was the only “Black Young Lady” to make the finals beat out by Carol Burnett…Later, in 1959, Davette auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera Chorus and was asked to join. After prayer and fasting, she decided to decline the offer. Noting that the drinking, smoking & partying she was expose to while practicing with them, wasn’t really her lifestyle. Through all of this she never stopped singing with the St. John’s UMC Senior Choir who at the time was one of the premiere Choirs at every program throughout the church circuit, in the Tri-State Area. She and her younger sister Hazel were the youngest members of that choir. Hazel singing soprano & she contralto.
Davette being very talented worked as Window Trimmer for an exclusive Women’s & Children’s Clothing store-The Janet Shoppe in East Orange, NJ, then for Golden Books & Records, and as a civilian worker for the Navy.
Davette furthered her education by taking Computer and Religion Classes at Seton Hall University getting certificates in both. She always said, “Knowledge is Power. Once you have it no one can take it from you.” In later years, she became a sculptor and gave some of her creations to special people in her life.
For 30 years she worked for Blue Cross/Blue Shield (Horizon) in various locations, as a Head Desk and Computer Input Clerk. Helping many know Jesus as their personal Savior. Though Davette loved to travel, New Jersey was her favorite State.
Davette had a great capacity for love. She Prayed, sang, hugged, and kissed her way through life. She Loved her Family. She Loved St. John’s and Franklin-St John’s. She loved young people believing that GOD gave You as much family as your heart could hold and her heart was very large!!! She was