Obituary Information

When possible, obituaries should be sent to the Herald from the funeral home. Information received will be placed in our standard obituary format.

We publish names of the deceased's spouse, parents, grandparents, siblings and children; we also include the number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

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Obituaries - 05/17/01

William Mincey

A memorial service was held Wednesday, May 16, at 4 p.m. at Cullowhee Baptist Church.

A native of Jackson County, he had been a resident of Winterville for the past four years. He was employed at Collins and Aikman in Farmville as a process engineer and was a member of Memorial Baptist Church in Greenville.

Survived are his wife, Bonnie Mustian Mincey; three sons, Jeremy D. Mincey, Wesley A. Mincey and Dakota Rix Mincey, all of the home; his parents, Wymer and Jean Mincey of Cullowhee; two sisters, Deborah Cathey of Pensacola, Fla., and Barbara Rogers of Houston; and two brothers, Jim W. Mincey and Jack L. Mincey, both of Cullowhee.

Memorials may be made to Adult Bone Marrow Transplant Program, DUMC, Box 3961, Durham, N.C. 27710.

Rom Mace

A memorial service was held 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 15, at Old Savannah Baptist Church. The Rev. Clifford Parker officiated. Military rites were conducted by the Sylva American Legion Post 104.

A native and lifelong resident of Jackson County, he was a graduate of Western Carolina University and worked with the Jackson County Recreation and Parks Department in maintenance. A U.S. Navy veteran, he was a son of the late Nute and Sarah Shook Mace.

He was preceded in death by one brother, Jerry Mace; one sister, Doris Arrowood; and one daughter, Doris Deverina Mace.

Surviving are his wife of 28 years, Sharon Bennett Mace; two daughters, Leatrice M. Reece and Sarah M. Thompson, both of Sylva; one son, Donald B. Mace of Harrison, Tenn.; one sister, Helen M. Bradley of Whittier; three brothers, Larry Mace of Sylva, Jim Mace of Cullowhee and Lossel Mace of Tococca, Ga.; and seven grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to the Old Savannah Baptist Church, c/o Woodrow Frady, Sutton Branch Road, Sylva, N.C. 28779; or to Hospice, 68 Hospital Road, Sylva, N.C. 28779. Melton-Riddle Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Henry Leigh

A memorial service will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 18, at Cullowhee Presbyterian Church. A pot luck dinner will be held at 6:30 p.m.

A retired pharmacist, he was a graduate of Drake University School of Pharmacy where he served as president of his freshman and senior classes. He was also selected as a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, National Leadership Honor Society.

After moving to Western North Carolina, he operated the Waynesville Pharmacy in the early 1960s. He was later invited to open the Center Pharmacy on the campus of Western Carolina University. He eventually continued as a practicing pharmacist until the age of 83.

He was a 32nd degree Mason. In Cullowhee he became an active member of Cullowhee Presbyterian Church where he was elected an elder numerous times. He gave much of his spare time to volunteer work, both at the hospital and later at the United Christian Ministries of Jackson County.

He was preceded in death by one son, James Ronald Leigh.

Surviving are his wife of 45 years, Lena T. Leigh; one son, Dennis R. Turner; seven grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to one's preferred charity.

Moody Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Nola Pheasant

Funeral services were held at 3 p.m. Monday, May 14, at the Cherokee Pentecostal Holiness Church. The Revs. James "Bo" Parris and Betty Drake officiated. Burial was in Long Family Cemetery.

A native and lifelong resident of Cherokee, she was a daughter of Leona Wolfe of Cherokee and the late William Bird.

She was preceded in death by one son, William Pheasant; and two brothers, Nichodemius and Robert Bird.

Surviving, in addition to her mother, are her husband, William Perry Pheasant; one daughter, Rhonda S. Pheasant of Cherokee; one son, Thomas E. Pheasant of Cherokee; six sisters, Rebecca Bird, Thelma Tramper, Emaline Kalonaheskie, Stacy Swimmer, Rachel Lance, all of Cherokee, and Sandi Jumper of Spartanburg, S.C.; and six grandchildren.

Elizabeth Reagan

Funeral services were held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 15, at Qualla Wesleyanna Church. The Rev. Cody Lambert officiated. Burial was at Tow String Cemetery.

A native of Cherokee, she was a member of Qualla Arts and Crafts and was known for her beadwork and basket making. She was the daughter of the late Frank Welch and wife of the late Wanzel Reagan.

Surviving are her mother, Dinah Calhoun Welch of Cherokee; two daughters, Wanda McCoy of Cherokee and Mary Dean Smith of Cherokee; one son, Harold Reagan Reagan of Cherokee; seven grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Moody Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Brian West

A native and lifelong resident of Haywood County, he was a member of Bethel Baptist Church and a 2000 graduate of Central Haywood High School.

Surviving are his father and stepmother, Darryl D. and Shelly West of Candler; mother and stepfather, Debbie Burnette Moody and Tony Moody of Waynesville; two sisters, Amelia F. Lipe of Canton and Cassie S. West of Candler; maternal grandparents, Lucy and Scott Ashe of Canton and Bruce and Brenda Burnette of Canton; paternal grandparents, William T. and Laura West of Canton; maternal great-grandfather, Wayne Dotson of Canton; one stepsister, Crystal Mease of Candler; and two stepbrothers, Caleb Burton of Florida and Corey Michael Bowen of Asheville. Funeral services were held at 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 16, in the Canton chapel of Wells Funeral Home. The Revs. O.J. Skidmore and Dennis Burrell officiated. Burial was in Riverside Baptist Church Cemetery.

Memorials may be made to Haywood County Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 1275, Canton, N.C. 28716; Jackson County Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 158, Sylva, N.C. 28779; or to Darryl West for Christopher B. West, c/o First Union Bank, 159 Smokey Park Highway, Asheville, N.C. 28806.

Herman Wyatt

Funeral services were held at 8 p.m. Monday, May 14, in the chapel of Moody Funeral Home. The Rev. Johnny Norris officiated. A graveside service was held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 15, at Alexander Cemetery in Salem, S.C.

A native of Illinois and a veteran of the U.S. Army, he was a retired auto dealer and an avid flea marketer. He was a son of the late Harold Herman and Gladys Mullvian Wyatt.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Anna B. Wyatt; one brother, Jim Wyatt; and one sister, Gertrude Osborne.

Surviving are his stepmother, Golda Wyatt of Illinois; two sons, Thomas N. Wyatt of Urbana, Ill., and Bruce N. Wyatt of Fisher, Ill.; three brothers Kenneth Wyatt of Los Angeles, Mel Wyatt of Florida and Don Wyatt of California; and two sisters, Sandra Wyatt of Illinois and Willetta Silva of Pennsylvania; four grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Alene Cashatt

A native of Jackson County's Speedwell community, she was the daughter of Manson Maine Pressley Sr. and Mercedes Leake Pressley. On her marriage to Franklin Ray Cashatt in 1945, she moved to Randleman, where she lived the rest of her life.

She was active as a journalist and worked in support of St. Paul's Museum in Randleman. She was a long-time member of First Baptist Church of Randleman.

She was preceded in death by two brothers.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by one son, Denver Bryson Cashatt of Pittsburg, Texas; two daughters, Margaret Alene Taylor of Detroit and Sarah Catherine Ellen Hunt of Randleman; two sisters, Sarah Ruth Carlapp of Anaheim, Calif., and Pauline Collins of Amherst, Mass; and five grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to the First Baptist Church, 100 N. Main Street, Randleman, N.C. 27317.

Geneva Bradley

Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 12, in the chapel of Paulk Funeral Home. The Rev. Russell Harper officiated. Burial was in Fletcher Cemetery in Alapaha. Pallbearers were Dave Harper, Aaron Pierce, Alton Rowan, Alvin Riner, Raymond Purvis and Autry Moore.

A native of Gastonia, she was a daughter of the late Luther and Ellen A. Davis Schultz. She was a 1947 graduate of Sylva Central High School. She had lived in Alapaha for the past 50 years.

She was a former resident of Waynesville and Jackson County's Barkers Creek community, a homemaker and former employee of J.P. Stevens Woolen Mill in Tifton and the Alapaha Post Office. She was a member of Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Fitzgerald.

Surviving are her husband, Will Bradley; one son, Steve Bradley of Canton; one daughter, Pat Benefield of Fayetteville; two brothers, Charles Shultz of Rock Mount and Billy Ray Schulz of Homestead, Fla.; three sisters, Marjorie Frady of Waynesville, Mary Ellen Proctor of Gastonia and Ruth Green of Murphy; six grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Bobbie Jones

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, May 18, at Speedwell Baptist Church in Cullowhee.

A native of Cullowhee, she was the daughter of the late Ben Lee and Helen Mashburn Davis. Memorials may be made to Speedwell Baptist Church.

McEwen Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Alex Kish

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 19, in the chapel of Moody Funeral Home. Burial will be at Woody Cemetery in Bryson City. The family will receive friends from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday, one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.

A native of New Brunswick, N.J., he was former owner of Dixie Nursery in Fern Park, Fla., and had retired to Dillsboro in 1987.

He was the son of the late Charles and Mary Kish.

He was preceded in death by one sister, Mary Szenasy; one brother, Nick Leanch.

Surviving are his wife, Leona Woody Kish; and one son, Stephen A. Kish of Tallahassee, Fla.

Harriet Allison

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, May 18, at St. John's Episcopal Church, of which she was a member. Father Henry Burton will officiate. The family will receive friends following the service. A private burial will be held at a later date.

A native of Kane County, Ill., she moved to Jackson County in 1995. She was active in the Foster Grandparents program, was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority and was a retired teacher. She was the daughter of the late Clemment and Mariam Caspar Whonsetler.

She was preceded in death by her husband, David Allison, who died in 1970; and one son, David Allison.

Surviving are one daughter, Barbara Goldstein of Dillsboro; three grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

Memorials may be made to the Harriet Allison Memorial, c/o Betty Lester, Cullowhee Valley School, 240 Wisdom Drive, Cullowhee, N.C. 28723.

Hilton Huskey

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. today (Thursday) in the chapel of Bill Moody Funeral Home. The Revs. Doug Matthews and Danny Lambert will officiate. Burial will be in Swain Memorial Park with military graveside rites by Steve Youngdeer American Legion Post 104.

A native of Swain County, he was the son of the late Sevier and Kate Cline Huskey. He was owner and operator of Huskey Enterprises, Huskey's Motel and Campground and Exxon Station for five years and Soco Diner for 27 years.

He was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, a member of Operating Engineers Local No. 3, and Laborers International Union Local No. 720.

He was preceded in death by one son, Hilton "Mike" Huskey Jr., three sisters and three brothers. Surviving are his wife, Elsie Bradley Huskey; one son, Ronnie Huskey of Cherokee; one daughter, Deana Huskey Brown of Maggie Valley; one brother, Earl Huskey of Lincolnton; one sister, Marie Brown of Asheville; three grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

The family was to have received friends from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, May 16, at the funeral home.

Memorial donations may be made to the American Heart Association or American Cancer Society. Bill Moody Funeral Home, Bryson City, is in charge of arrangements.

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