Obituary

Neva Gail Lusk, 68, died peacefully at home on March 13, 2025, surrounded by her loving family, following a courageous battle with breast cancer.

Neva was born on October 16, 1956, in Logan, West Virginia. She was the oldest of four children, and the only girl, born to Raymond and Jewel Lusk. Neva grew up in Parkersburg, West Virginia, graduating from Parkersburg High School in 1974, where she was a member of the Red Wings. Neva obtained a bachelor’s degree from Marshall University in 1977 and received her law degree from the West Virginia University College of Law in 1980. After briefly practicing law in Parkersburg, Neva moved to Charleston and served as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for Kanawha County from 1981 to 1991. During that time, she honed her skills as a trial lawyer, convicting countless bad guys along the way.

When she wasn’t fighting crime, Neva made Steve Chambers the luckiest guy in the world when she consented to marry him. Neva and Steve were married on June 5, 1982, and became proud parents on September 25, 1985, when their daughter, Christine, was born. A few years later, Christine got a brother when Tom was born on August 8, 1988.

In 1991, Neva began working with the Charleston law firm of Spilman Thomas & Battle, where she eventually became a partner. Neva specialized in defending clients in a wide variety of large-scale civil litigation, as well as occasional criminal prosecutions. She was an officer and/or member of many statewide and national organizations of defense lawyers, including DRI (National Director; West Virginia State Representative; chair or member of multiple committees), International Association of Defense Counsel (Vice Chair of Trial Tactics and Techniques Committee; Trial Academy faculty member), Defense Trial Counsel of West Virginia (past president) and the West Virgina State Bar Board of Governors (former member). Neva received many awards in recognition of her skills and success as a trial lawyer and took pride in mentoring young lawyers, particularly young female lawyers. One of her proudest achievements was when she received the 2019 DRI Mary Massaron Award for the Advancement of Women in the Legal Profession. Neva also found time to lend her support to various local civic organizations such as the Fund for the Arts and was a long-time member of the Woman’s Kanawha Literary Club.

Neva loved to garden, cook and travel, among other things. Her coconut cream pies were unsurpassed and she was honored to be the only person, or one of very few, to receive the secret recipe for Lang Palmer’s famous barbeque sauce, which she faithfully produced from time to time and shared with Lang and others. Neva and Steve travelled extensively, before and after retirement, often with Christine and Tom and Steve’s mom. Destinations included warm weather locales, such as St. Barts (honeymoon), Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Belize and Aruba; cooler destinations such as Canada, Iceland, Scotland, Norway and England, as well as virtually all of western Europe and the islands of the Mediterranean.

Neva is survived by her mother, Jewel Lusk of Parkersburg; her loving husband of 42 years, Steve Chambers of Charleston; her children, Christine Chambers of Edina, Minnesota, and Tom Chambers of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany; her grandchildren, Paul and Henry Poerschke of Edina; her brothers, Keith Lusk (Aimee) of Seattle, Washington, Jeff Lusk (Elizabeth) of Dallas, Texas, and Greg Lusk (Becky) of New Windsor, Maryland, along with numerous uncles and cousins.

A visitation for family and friends will be held from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at Barlow Bonsall Funeral Home, 1118 Virginia Street, East, in Charleston, West Virginia.

A celebration of Neva’s life will be held at a later date.

Condolences may be sent to the family at www.barlowbonsall.com .

Barlow Bonsall Funeral Home has been entrusted with the arrangements.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Please join us in celebrating Neva Lusk’s wonderful life at Edgewood Country Club, 1600 Edgewood Drive, Charleston, WV, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. on April 11, 2025. Fine refreshments and good memories will be shared.

If you are planning to join us, please drop us a line at CelebrateNeva@gmail.com.