Rutherford Weekly

Page 16 - Rutherford Weekly 828-248-1408 www.rutherfordweekly.com Thursday, January 4-January 10, 2018 RONALD FAY WILKINS, SR. Ronald Fay Wilkins, Sr. 71 of Forest City went to be with the Lord on Christmas Day, December 25, 2017. Born December 24, 1946 in Rutherford County, he was the son of the late Thomas Wilkins, Jr. and Lois Gross Wilkins. Ron was a graduate of Chase High School and received his B.S. Degree in Business from Gardner-Webb University and had been a Real Estate Broker in Rutherford County for a number of years. He was a member of the Harris First Baptist Church, the NC Army National Guard and enjoyed horseback riding. He was a wonderful hus- band, father, grandfather and brother and greatly enjoyed his grandchildren. Surviving are his wife, Sharon Kiger Wilkins of the home; three children, Reverend Ronald Wilkins, Jr. and wife Sherry, Tonya Wilkins Logan and hus- band, Freddy, Timothy Chad Wilkins and wife, Nikki. Seven Grandchildren, a grandson preceded him in death. One sister, Sandra Mayes and hus- band, Johnny; two brothers, Tommy Wilkins and wife, Claudia, Donald Wilkins and Michelle; a brother-in-law, Darrell Kiger. Funeral services were held at Harris First Baptist Church w/Rev Whitmire and Rev Ron Wilkins officiat- ing. Burial followed in the Church Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family respect- fully request memorial con- tributions be made to the American Cancer Society, 1901 Brunswick Ave, Suite 100, Charlotte, NC 28207. The Padgett and King Mortuary is in charge of the arrangements. HUGH LUCKADOO Hugh Churchill Luckadoo, age 79, of Spindale, passed away December 25, 2017. Hugh was a native of Rutherford County, retired dye house supervisor for Stonecutter Mills, a mem- ber of Village Chapel and attended Shingle Hollow Congregational Holiness Church. Hugh was preced- ed in death by his parents Raymond and Edna Mae Luckadoo and his wife Diane Luckadoo. Left to cherish his memory are his daughter Rhonda (Mike) Pearson of Morganton, step daughter Shelly (Monty) Higgins of Forest City, step son Tommy Moore of Forest City; one grandchild of Morganton, step grandchildren Brandi Moore and Michael Moore of Forest City; three great grandchildren; broth- ers Charles Luckadoo of Shelby, Roger Luckadoo of Spindale; sisters Carolyn Marlowe of Spindale, Wanda (Mitch) Skipworth of Morganton, Robin and Brian Epley of Rutherfordton. Funeral services were conducted at Crowe's Funeral Chapel. Rev Jack Crain officiated. Burial was held in the Shingle Hollow Congregational Holiness Church Cemetery. Memorials may be made to Hospice of the Carolina Foothills PO Box 336 Forest City, NC 28043. Croweʼs Mortuary is assisting the family. LETTY H. BIGGERSTAFF Letty H. Biggerstaff, age 86, of Bostic, passed away December 25, 2017. Born August 1, 1931 in Rutherford County, she was a daughter of the late Zeno Hunt and Nancy Hennessee Hunt. She was a graduate of Sunshine High School and worked as a secretary for various local businesses. Letty worked as a caretaker in home healthcare. She attended the Lutheran Church and was an animal lover. Letty enjoyed playing the piano. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by two sisters, Ruby Edwards and Nita Hunt and a brother, Joe Hunt. Those left to cherish her memory include three daughters, Cheryl Ledbetter and husband, Butch of Forest City, Wanda Biggerstaff of Moscow, Idaho and Kim Nelson and husband, Gene of Kendrick, Idaho; three sons, Norris Biggerstaff, Jr. of Bostic, Karl Biggerstaff of Ketchikan, Alaska and Mark Biggerstaff of Vancouver, Washington; one sister, Polly Flores and husband, Ernie of Minneola, Florida. She is also survived by nine grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren, and her companion pet, Michelle. A service of remembrance will be conducted in the Spring of 2018. Memorial donations are respectfully requested to The Humane Society, www.donate.hsi.org Harrelson Funeral and Cremation Services has been entrusted with arrangements. TOY MORRIS EDWARDS Toy Morris Edwards, age 88, of Forest City passed away December 4, 2017. She was born May 5, 1929 in Wisconsin and was a daughter of the late Chester Julian Morris and Margarite Brandenburg Morris. Toy worked as an accountant and was a member of First United Methodist Church of Forest City where she sang in the church choir. She was member of the Order of the Eastern Star, Chapter 297 in Cocoa, Florida where she Past Worthy Patron. She also enjoyed cooking and sailing. Survivors include her daughter, Darling Faye Reuther of Forest City, special children, George "Sonny" Edwards, Paul Edwards, Chris Edwards and Deb Edwards. There are also 24 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at four o'clock on Thursday, January 4, 2018 in the Chapel of the First United Methodist Church w/ Rev. Dr. Neil Haynes offici- ating. Visitation 3-4pm prior to the service. Memorials may be made to the, Alzheimer's Association Western Carolina, 4600 Park Road, Suite 250, Charlotte, NC 28209. The Padgett & King Mortuary & Crematory is in charge of arrangements. VIRGINIA "PEANUT" DOBBINS Virginia Ann "Peanut" Bridges Dobbins, age 78, of Forest City, passed away December 24, 2017. Born August 1, 1939 in Rutherford County, she was a daughter of the late Clifton Otis Bridges and Annie Laura Nanney Bridges. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Buddy Lee Dobbins; four brothers, C.B. Bridges, Claude Bridges, George Bridges, Paul Newton Bridges; two sis- ters, Margaret Hawkins and Dorine Johnson. Those left to cherish her memory include one son, Michael Dobbins and wife Beth; three daughters, Tanya Humphries, Darlene Melton and husband Bryan, Beth Roberson and husband Dale; one sister, Rachel Haynes and husband Lawrence; and sister-in-law, Jane Bridges. She is also survived by seven grand- children; three great-grand- daughters; and numerous nieces and nephews. The funeral service was conducted at Harrelson Funeral Chapel. Rev Wayne Toney and Mr. Bryan Melton officiated. Interment followed in the Cliffside Cemetery. Memorial donations are suggested to Hospice of Rutherford County, PO Box 336, Forest City, NC 28043. Harrelson Funeral and Cremation Services has been entrusted with arrangements. BILLY RAY SPROUSE Billy Ray Sprouse, 59, of Spindale, passed away December 28, 2017. A native of Rutherford County, he is the son of Kenneth Ray and Helen Day Sprouse. He was a member of Corinth Baptist Church and was employed by Rutherford County as a waste manager at a conve- nience center. Left to cherish his memory, in addition to his parents, is his wife, Wanda Bright Sprouse of the home; daughters Julie Givens of Forest City and Sarah Paul of Charlotte; son, Benjamin Sprouse of Spindale; three grandchildren; sister, Sharon Hughes. Memorial services were held at Crowe's Mortuary. Rev. Chad Sisk officiated. Military honors were pro- vided by the Rutherford County Honor Guard. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Hospice of the Carolina Foothills, PO Box 336, Forest City, NC 28043. Croweʼs Mortuary is assisting the family. PATRICIA ANN KNIGHT LEWIS Patricia Ann Knight Lewis age 65 of Spindale, passed away December 22, 2017. Patricia was the daugh- ter to the late Stanley Knight and Gertrude Larson Talia. In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by her husband James Alrey Lewis. Left to cherish her memory are her children Jeanette Detetta, and son Kyle Guyan; 12 grandchil- dren and 5 great grandchil- dren. No services are planned at this time. Croweʼs Mortuary is assisting the family. THOMAS HUDSON Thomas Evan Hudson of Rutherfordton passed away December 14, 2017. He is preceded in death by his parents Harry and Vennie Hudson, wife Winnie, 2 brothers and 4 sisters. Thomas is survived by 3 sisters, Joyce Hudson, Peggy Ricker, and Linda Andrew. Services will be announced at a later date. Croweʼs Mortuary is assisting the family. Rutherford Weekly offers the printing of obituaries in our paper as a community service and free of charge. The obituary may include a picture if the image is of print quality. We request that the obituary is limited to 150 words and we will edit the obituaries due to space. The obituary will include preceded family members, surviving family members, funeral service information, memorials, and the name of the funeral home serving the family. The obituaries will not include names of grandchildren, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, or pets. We only accept obituaries from licensed funeral homes. Please have your funeral home send us your loved ones' obituaries to events@rutherfordweekly.com ©Community First Media Community First Media One of the most intriguing caus- es of death that I have seen on a death certifi cate is called "failure to thrive." I wonder how many people wake up each day and "fail to thrive." In spite of some out- ward sense of functionality, some people are only going through the motions of liv- ing. They have given up on life. Each day each of us are given a choice to either live or to simply exist. Down deep in the heart of every person is a desire to live, but often times we let the hardships and trials of life discourage us from really living. Whether it be the death of someone we love, the ending of a rela- tionship, the loss of a job, an injury which leads to a physical disability or any other tragic event of life, we must all come to a point of decision to go on. During the ex- perience of grief there must be a time that the "survivor" stops "surviving" and starts to live again. When I was a young boy, I can remem- ber my dad watching Friday night boxing on the television. I still have memories of a fi ght where one particular boxer was literal- ly getting the "stuffi ng" beat out of him. Ev- ery time he would get hit, he would shake it off and keep on fi ghting. At one point in the fi ght, he even got knocked down (and as he lay there in pain, I am sure staying down for the count would have been an op- tion running through his mind) but he did not quit and slowly he got back to his feet. Not only did he get back up, he came back and won the match! There are going to be times in our life that we will fi guratively get hit hard and perhaps get knocked down for the count. The key to real living is not stay- ing down, but choosing to get back up. We can either "fail to thrive" or we can choose to live. LANNY FUNCHESS -FUNERAL DIRECTOR- Points To Ponder LIVE! "Quality Service with Compassionate Care" Harrelson Funeral & Cremation Services 1251 U.S. Hwy 221-A, Forest City, NC 828-657-6383 www.harrelsonfuneralhome.com R IVERHIL L MONUMENT CO. riverhillmonuments.com riverhillmonuments.com © Community First Media Community First Media 1113 Polkville Rd. • Shelby, NC • 704-481-1198 Family Owned & Operated Since 1957 At Riverhill Monument Company, you deal directly with the monument builder, with no middle man mark up, and we never sell monuments over the internet. We proudly sell and install monuments in Rutherford County.

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