Rufus Woodrow Singleton

Rufus Woodrow Singleton, 92, of Morganton, NC died Thursday, September 24, 2009 at the Charles Davant Extended Care Facility at Blowing Rock Hospital. Born in Burke County, NC on June 7, 1917, he was the son of the late Rufus Harper Singleton and Alice Lowdermilk Singleton. Rufus was a member of Pleasant View Baptist Church for 72 years and sang in the choir for the majority of that time. He also sang bass in several gospel quartets and was the host of a Sunday morning gospel music radio show at WMNC for more than 20 years. As a young man he worked at the Morganton Full Fashion Hosiery Mill. During WWII he left his young family to build ships in the harbor of Baltimore, MD.Mr. Singleton was the founder and president of Craftsmen Insulators, a home improvement company in the Burke County area. He worked on a great many homes in the community.

While singing was his favorite hobby, he loved to fish, hunt, and spend time in his fishing boat on Sunday afternoons. Though he experienced a great deal of tragedy and suffering in his life, he remained hopeful and of good cheer and trusted Christ for his eternal destination. He will be missed by his remaining children.Rufus is survived by his son, Tim Singleton and wife, Robin, of Morganton; daughters, Annette Brinkley and husband, Tim, of Drexel, NC and Alice Salthouse and husband, Curt, of Boone, NC; a sister, Betty Waters Allen; 18 grandchildren, a number of great-grandchildren, and a few great-great-grandchildren.In addition to his parents, Rufus was preceded in death by his wife of 45 years, Helen Annas Singleton; sons, Jay Alan Singleton, Gary Winfield Singleton, Ronald Woodrow Singleton, and Dean Andrew Singleton; and sisters, Florence Golightly, Macie Whisnant, Della Harris, Emma Shirley, Elma Smith, Jessie Moses, and Lois Glenn.The funeral will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, September 26, 2009 at Pleasant View Baptist Church with Rev. Burt Wilbur officiating. Burial will follow in Burke Memorial Park. The family will receive friends at the church one hour prior to the funeral. Memorial contributions may be made to Montreat Presbyterian Church, c/o L.O.T. Ministries, P.O. Box 229, Montreat, NC 28757 or to Pleasant View Baptist Church, 1834 Highway 70 East, Morganton, NC 28655. Sossoman Funeral Home is assisting the family with the arrangements.