Bessie Lee Hudson Smith, devoted and beloved mother and grandmother, died Saturday, July 26th, after a brief illness. She was 89 years old.
She was born in Cleveland County, NC on December 19, 1924 to the late Joe “Ben” Hudson and Adeline Smith Hudson. Bessie grew up in Golden Valley then moved to Morganton where she built a home, lived, and raised her family.
Bessie worked 70 years in industry and retail but her favorite “job” of all was her “job” this last year at Generations Adult Day Care in Morganton, NC.
She was one of a kind and will surely be missed. She enjoyed dancing, gardening, quilting, picking berries, stringing beans, cooking, canning, and visiting with and tending to her family. Bessie made the best buttermilk biscuits you would ever eat.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Garland Ronell Smith; her brothers, Arie Esper Hudson, Carl Hudson, John Hudson, Scott Russell Hudson, and Hoover Hudson; and her sisters Mary Hudson McCurry and Marie Hudson McNeilly.
Those left to mourn her passing are her adoring children, James Franklin Smith and his companion, Christy Harrison, and Helen Marie Roper and her husband, Jerry Wesley Roper; her grandchildren, Jeffery Wesley Roper and his wife, Wendy, Daniel Ronald Smith and his wife, Susan, Donald Richard Smith and his wife, Dawn, Shane LaRue Roper and his wife, Tammy, and Deanne Renee Smith and her fiancé, James Ashley Avery; great-grandchildren, James Richard Smith and his wife. Alesia, Madison Blake Causby, Ava Rae Smith, Tess Adeline Causby, Sydney Marie Roper, Samantha Atchley Roper, and Jacob Wesley Roper; great-great grandchildren, Haven Rose Smith and Junior Thomas “JT” Smith, all of Burke County; her brother, Clyde Hudson of Bostic; and sisters, Elvie Brisco of Tucson, Arizona and Brunie Hubbard Ware of Casar.
The funeral will be held at 1:00 p.m., Monday, July 28, 2014 in the Colonial Chapel of Sossoman Funeral Home and Crematory Center with the Rev. Jim Taber officiating. Burial will follow in Burke Memorial Park. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 12:00 until 1:00 p.m. prior to the service.
Memorial contributions can be made in her honor to Blue Ridge Community Action, Generations Adult Day Care, 800 North Green St, Morganton N.C. 28655.
Tribute Wall
Leave a tribute for Bessie Lee Hudson Smith.
No tributes added yet.