Mrs. Mary Browning Crooks

Mrs. Mary Browning Crooks, 103, of Cleveland, TN died Sunday, September 1, 2013. She was born on Paddy’s Creek, Burke County, NC on July 2, 1910 and was a life-long member of Oak Grove Baptist Church. Mary was married to John C. Crooks who preceded her in death by 42 years. Together they operated a store and boat landing at Canal Bridge on Lake James for many years. Mrs. Crooks was also preceded in death by her parents, Millard A. Browning and Harriett Ollis Browning.In addition to her parents and husband, Mary was preceded in death by six brothers, James (Jim), Jeff, Smith, Jeter, Theodore, and Hamp Browning; four sisters, Lula Browning Craig (who lived to be 107), Vona Browning McLean, Texie Mae Browning (who passed when she was 7), and an unnamed infant; step-daughters, Naomi Crooks Johnson and her husband, Kurt, of Ft. Myers, FL and Pauline Crooks Yancey of Glen Alpine, NC; a step-son, Earl Crooks and his wife, Muriel; a nephew, Larry Yancey; a daughter-in-law, Dorothy Dellinger Crooks; two sons-in-law, Cleve Cooper and Alfred Stamey; an infant daughter, Minnie Belle Crooks; and an unnamed stillborn.Of her large extended family, left to honor her memory are a step-daughter, Louise Crooks Stamey of Glen Alpine; a step-son, John Crooks, Jr. and his wife, Belle, of Morganton; sons, James "Jim" Crooks of Nebo, NC and Carl Crooks and his wife, Alice, of Hildebran, NC; daughters, Nancy Crooks Newton and her husband, D.Z., Anna Laura Crooks Jaynes and her husband, Carrol of Charleston, TN, Mary "Dinky" Crooks Cooper of Valdese, NC; seventeen grandchildren, Steve Brewer, Junior Stamey, Kim Stamey Mauney, Pamela Stamey, Dennis Yancey, Randy Yancey, Patricia Yancey Browning, Kathy Crooks Justice, Gary Crooks, David Newton, Jerry Newton, Johnnie Sue Crooks Web, Pamela Crooks Hipps, Carrol Jaynes, Jr., Scott Epley, Bryan Epley, and Pamela Epley Cheney; sixteen great-grandchildren; and six great-great-grandchildren.The funeral will be held at 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, September 4, 2013 at Oak Grove Baptist Church with the Rev. Mike Wakefield and the Rev. Gyles Widener officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. The family will receive friends Tuesday evening from 7:00 until 9:00 p.m. at Sossoman Funeral Home and Crematory Center where the body will remain until placed in the church thirty minutes prior to the funeral hour.Memorial contributions may be made to Oak Grove Baptist Church, 1065 Paddy’s Creek Road, Nebo, NC 28671.