Obituary Information

When possible, obituaries should be submitted to The Herald from the funeral home in charge of arrangements. Information received will be printed in our standard obituary format. As is the case with all information submitted to The Herald, we reserve the right to edit obituary information to fit our standard format.

We publish names of the deceased's children; we also include the number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We do not include in-laws, cousins, nieces and nephews or special friends.

Included in a brief history of the deceased is items such as their employment, professional, civic, community and religious affiliations. We omit personal tributes.

To publish a more detailed obituary or one in another format, the announcement can run as a paid advertisement.

Read More . . .

Obituaries - 12/23/02

Henry Allen

Funeral services were held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 21, at A.M.E. Zion Church. The Revs. Damita Wilder, Eddie Stillwell and Adam West officiated. Burial was at Fairview Memorial Gardens.

A native and lifelong resident of Jackson County, he was a member of Liberty Baptist Church, a U.S. Army veteran of World War II, serving in Germany and France, and was a retired automotive mechanic with the N.C. Department of Transportation.

He was a son of the late Lawrence and Hattie Allen.

Surviving are his wife, Mae Louise Allen; one son, Donald Ray Allen of Cullowhee; one daughter, Dorothea Siler of Cullowhee; one sister, Ida Bryson of Sylva; and three grandchildren.

Moody Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements. An online memorial and guest register is available at www.pemoody.com.

Mary Pannell

Services were held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 21, at Melton-Riddle Funeral Home. The Revs. Lloyd Fish and Rich Peoples officiated. Burial was at Old Field Cemetery.

A native of Jackson County, where she lived most of her life, she was a member of Scotts Creek Baptist Church, where she was active in WMU and the XYZ Club. She was also a member of the American Legion Auxiliary and Jackson County Extension Club.

She was a daughter of the late Charlie C. and Myrtle McCracken Fisher.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Craig Dennis Pannell; one son, Robert H. Pannell; and one brother, Carter Fisher.

Surviving are three daughters, Brenda P. Rhoads of Balsam, Karen P. Galloway of Arlington, Va., and Sheila Ratcliffe of Alexandria, Va.; one son, Richard C. Pannell of Raleigh; one sister, Libby Etherton of Sylva; five grandchildren; one great-grandchild; and one great-great-grandchild.

Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 925, Sylva, N.C. 28779.

James Nations

Born March 28, 1911, in Jackson County's Wilmot community, he was a son of the late Kim and Sarah Nations. He retired from Weyerhauser after 27 years of service.

Surviving are one daughter, Sarah Barrie; three brothers, John, Raymond and Fred "Reuben"; one sister, Birdel; one granddaughter; and one great-grandson.

Bleitz Funeral Home in Seattle, Wash., was in charge of arrangements.

Dot Dishman

Funeral services were held at 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 21, in the chapel of Moody Funeral Home. Dr. Wayne Hill officiated. Burial was in Parris Cemetery in Dillsboro.

Pallbearers were Ben Douglas, M.D., Quayle Nelson, M.D., Joe Nardello, Steve Queen, M.D., Nagui El Bayadi, M.D., and Steve Deweese, M.D.

A lifelong resident of Jackson County, she was the eldest daughter of the late James S. Mason and Margaret Cagle Mason.

A graduate of Grady Memorial Hospital Nursing School, she worked her entire professional career of 42 years at C.J. Harris Community Hospital as the surgical supervisor. She was elected town alderman for the town of Dillsboro, where she served three terms.

She was preceded in death by one sister, Mary Mason Smith, and two brothers, C.W. "Bill" Mason and Charles C. Mason.

Surviving are one son, William Paul Mason of Norcross, Ga.; two brothers, Jim Mason of Webster and Kenneth H. Mason of Dacula, Ga.; two sisters, Margaret Ann Wood of Dillsboro and Francie Hoell of Webster; and two grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to Parris Cemetery Fund, c/o Roy Shuler, 118 South Country Club Drive, Cullowhee, N.C. 28723.

An online memorial and guest registry is available at www.pemoody.com.

Girlie Jones

Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 22, at Buff Creek Baptist Church. The Revs. Gerald Morris and David Souderes officiated. Burial was in Addie Cemetery.

She was a native of and raised in Jackson County and moved back to the area in 1973. She was a member of Buff Creek Baptist Church and a volunteer at the Hospital Auxiliary.

She was a daughter of the late Marcellus J. and Addie P. Cogdill Henry.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Jesse V. Jones, who died in 1980; one daughter, Mary Cecil Jones; and one sister, Carrie Beck.

Surviving are three sons, Bruce Jones of Sylva, Barry Jones of Chillicothe, Ohio, and William V. Jones of Sylva; one sister, Dixie DeHart of Bryson City; three brothers, William Lonas Henry of Sylva, Lewis Henry of Gastonia and Hobart Henry of Clyde; five grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to Buff Creek Baptist Church or Addie Cemetery Fund, c/o Shirley Beasley, 344 Lee St., Sylva, N.C. 28779.

Melton-Riddle Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Melvin Strumm

A memorial service will be held and announced at a later date.

Born in Casselton, N.D., he was a veteran of World War II, having served in the 137th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army as a reconnaissance photographer in Germany and Italy and was a recipient of the Bronze Star Medal. He was the former owner of Stumm Advertising in Manitowac, Wisc., and was the son of the late John and Winifred Von Beltz Stumm.

He is preceded in death by his first wife, Christine; and one brother, Richard Stumm.

Surviving are his wife of 18 years, Diane Stumm; one son, Timothy Stumm of Milwaukee, Wisc.; one daughter, Darcie Martin of Glenview, Ill.; and seven grandchildren. Memorials may be made to Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, P.O. Box 1888, Asheville, N.C. 28802.

Moody Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Samuel Curtis

Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, at Garrett Funerals and Cremations Chapel with a military chaplain officiating. Burial was in Greenhill Cemetery, veterans section, with a military unit from Fort Bragg conducting.

A native of Haywood County, he was the son of the late Charles and Mary Mull Curtis. He was a member of the VFW and American Legion.

Surviving are two sons, Richard Glen and Bruce Stanley Curtis, both of Texas; one sister, Leona Fisher of Sylva; and several grandchildren.

Edward Passino

Services were held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 21, at First United Methodist Church of Franklin. The Revs. Wayne Allen, Marie Martin and Dr. Jeff Patterson officiated.

A native of Summerville, S.C., he was a resident of Franklin for the last three years. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army, serving with the 82nd Airborne.

Surviving are his parents, Edward and Barbara Passino of Franklin; and one sister, Dawn Passino of Melbourne, Fla.

Memorials may be made to WestCare Home Health and Hospice, 68 Hospital Road, Sylva, N.C. 28779.

Edna Phillips

Funeral services were held at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 1, at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church. The Revs. Wallace Tallent, James Sanders and Robert Dryman officiated. Burial was in the church cemetery. Pallbearers were Halen Roane, Paul Benedict, Terry Moffitt, Bill Norris, David Roberts and Neville Bryson.

A native of Macon County, she was a daughter of Rena Ledford Peek Sanders of Franklin and the late James Logan Sanders.

She was a homemaker and caregiver for 20 years in Macon County. A licensed Baptist minister, with a degree in theology, she was a member of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church.

Surviving, in addition to her mother, are her husband of 40 years, Elmer Phillips; two sons, Larry Phillips and Ben Phillips of Franklin; four sisters, Elizabeth Neusenchwander of Hazelwood, Velma Randall and Hattie Maney of Franklin and Faye Smith of Clover, S.C.; 10 brothers, Dallas Sanders, Terry Peek, Clay Peek and Bobby Peek, all of Franklin, Donald Sanders of Toccoa, Ga., Gary Peek of Washington, Rocky Sanders of Gainesville, Ga., Robert Sanders of Blue Ridge, Ga., and Charles Sanders and Carroll Sanders, both of Clover, S.C.; three grandchildren, including Joe Denmark of Sylva; and one great-grandson.

Bryant Funeral Home in Franklin was in charge of arrangements.

Ralph Waltman

Melton-Riddle Funeral Home will announce arrangements.

Martha Martin

Graveside services were held Monday, Dec. 23, in Sardinia, Ohio.

Moody Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Back to Archive: 12/23/02.