Obituaries 6/23/2004

James Neal
CHERRYVILLE — James Robert Neal, 90, of 211 Milo Neal Road, died June 13, 2004. Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Shady Grove Baptist Church, where he was a member. Burial followed in the church cemetery.
Born in Cleveland County, he was retired from L&K Textiles and Sweetree Manufacturing.
Survivors include three daughters, Norma Nutter of Cherryville, Rhoda Spangler of Monroe and Betty Bare of China Grove; a brother, Marcus Neill of Cherryville; two sisters, Vera Hannon of Cherryville and Bertha Russ of Waco; five grandchildren; five great-grandchildren and a great great-grandchild.
Memorials may be made to Shady Grove Baptist Church, PO Box 330, Cherryville, NC 28021.
Carpenters Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Bobby Medlin
CONOVER — Bobby Grey Medlin, 75, of 4th Street SW, died June 13, 2004. Funeral services will be at 4 p.m. today at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in Claremont, where he was a member. Burial will follow in St. Mark’s Lutheran Church Cemetery.
Born in Catawba County, he was a member of Local 71 Teamster Union through Johnson Motor Lines.
Survivors include his wife, Joan Carpenter Medlin of the home; four sons, Mike Medlin of the home, Scott Medlin of Catawba, Tony Medlin of Newton and Lynn Medlin of Hildebran; two brothers, J.C. Medlin and Gene Medlin both of Claremont; five grandchildren, Carrie Brown, Cindy Queen, Bobby Medlin, Justin Medlin and Alisha Medlin; two step-grandchildren, Joshua McArthur and Matthew McArthur and two great-grandchildren.
Burke Mortuary in Newton is in charge of arrangements.

Donald Warren
CONOVER — Donald Lynn Warren, 50, of Rock Barn Road, died June 13, 2004. Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. today at Lighthouse Ministries in Claremont. Burial will follow in St. Mark’s Lutheran Cemetery.
Born in Bristol, Va., he was a member of Lighthouse Ministries.
Survivors include his wife, Linda Warren of the home; his parents, Bill and Betty Warren of Bluff-City, Tenn.; two sons, Donnie Randolph of Newton and Bobby Randolph of Conover; a daughter, Jeanna Martin of Claremont; three brothers, Jim Warren, Billy Warren and Jerry Warren all of Bluff-City, Tenn.; a sister, Jeannie Reed of Bluff-City, Tenn. and eight grandchildren, Sierra Martin, Donnie Randolph, Cody Randolph, Tyler Martin, Taylor Martin, Amber Randolph, Dylan Randolph and Luke Randolph.
Burke Mortuary in Newton is in charge of arrangements.

Lucy Stiles
IRON STATION — Lucy Bush Stiles, 75, of Hwy. 73, formerly of Catawba County, died June 14, 2004. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. today at Drum Funeral Home Chapel in Conover. Burial will follow in Conover City Cemetery.
Born in Dandridge, Tenn., she was a member of Pentecostal Church of the Living God in Newton and retired from Boise Cascade.
Survivors include her husband, C. Dillard Stiles Sr. of the home; a son, Marion Stiles of Conover; four daughters, Judy Hull and Betty Lovelace both of Iron Station, Pam Lowery of Lincolnton and Darlene Lane of Walnut Cove; three brothers, Rev. George Bush of Vale, Glenn Bush of Maryville, Tenn. and Cecil Bush of Texas; two sisters, Clydabea Clevinger and Vonnie Tingley both of Maryville, Tenn.; 12 grandchildren; six step-grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

Dorothy Clark
BOONE — Dorothy Louise Jesson Clark, 86, of Appalachian Brian Estates, died June 12, 2004. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Hampton Funeral Home Chapel in Boone. Graveside services and burial will follow at 2 p.m. at Gay’s Chapel United Methodist Church Cemetery in Salisbury. The family will receive friends from 9 until 10 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home.
Born in Coshocton, Ohio, she was a self-employed piano and voice teacher and served as music director in many churches.
Survivors include a daughter, Chris Clark of Boone; a son, Phillip Clark of Louisville, Ken.; two grandsons, Japhy Ferguson and Sgt. Richard Clark; a granddaughter, Kari Foreman and a great-grandson.
Memorials may be made to Hospice of Watauga County, 136 Furman Road, Boone, NC 28607.

W.L. Stell
SHELBY— William Ladney Stell, 80, of 4158 Fallston Road, died June 15, 2004. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, where he was a member. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. The family will receive friends from 6 until 7:30 tonight at Stamey Funeral Home.
Born in Graham County, he was retired from the License, Theft and Weight Enforcement Section of the Department of Motor Vehicles as the district supervisor and was a State Highway Patrol.
Survivors include his wife, Marjorie Heavner Stell; a sister-in-law, Jeanne Stell of Greensboro and two nieces.
Memorials may be made to Pleasant Grove Baptist Church Building Fund, 3932 Pleasant Grove Baptist Church Road, Shelby, NC 28150.

Pansy Pauline Pennell Helms
Mrs. Pansy Pauline Pennell Helms, age 92 of Lincoln Nursing Home and formerly of 557 Calvary Church Road in Lincolnton, NC died Saturday, June 19, 2004.
Her funeral was held at 1:00 p.m. Monday, June 21 in the Warlick Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Nathan Grooms officiating. Burial followed in Forest Lawn Cemetery. The family received friends from 12:00 p.m. until 1:00 p.m. Monday at Warlick Funeral Home.
Mrs. Helms was born on January 21, 1912 in Caldwell County to the late Walter and Elizabeth Isenhour Pennell. She was preceded in death by two daughters, Betty Sue Jakowski and Patty Warlick. She was self employed as a grocery store owner.
Survivors include: one son, Rathmul Helms of Lincolnton, NC: fourteen grandchildren, numerous great-grandchildren, three adopted grandchildren, Alexis Cespedes, Rachel Cespedes, Rebecca Cespedes.
Memorials may be made to Covenant Bible Church, P.O. Box 654, Lincolnton, NC 28093 or Hospice of Lincoln County, 107 N. Cedar Street, Lincolnton, NC 28092.
Warlick Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.

John “Jack” Lloyd Thompson, Jr.
Jack Thompson, the son of John Lloyd Thompson, Sr. And Martha Abernethy “Mattie” Thompson, was born in Lincolnton, NC and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mr. Thompson, a Certified Public Accountant, practiced accounting prior to entering textile-manufacturing management at Glenn Mills, subsequently Carolina Mills, where he worked for 53 years. He retired in 1987 from Carolina Mills, Inc. of Maiden, NC as Secretary and Treasurer and continued as a director until 1995. He was a director of The First National Bank of Lincolnton that merged to become Carolina First National Bank. When it was acquired by NCNB, he served as a local board member. His bank directorship lasted over 35 years.
He was active in various civic organizations. A lifelong member of the First Unied Methodist Church of Lincolnton, he was a Sunday School teacher, Chairman of the Administrative Board, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Treasurer, Auditor, and a member of other church committees. He served on the Board of Trustees of Brevard College for 38 years. Mr. Thompson was a Trustee at the United Methodist Home (Aldersgate) in Charlotte for over 30 years where he was residing at the time of his death. He was a founding Trustee of Lincoln County Hospital (Lincoln Medical Center). In the Boy Scouts of America, he earned the Eagle Rank with three palms, served as Chairman of the Lincoln District, was a Board Member of the Piedmont Council for years, and received the Silver Beaver Award. A founder of the United Way of Lincoln County, he was an active board member for over 25 years.
Mr. Thompson is survived by his wife of sixty-one years, Mary Wilson Glenn Thompson; daughter Martha Abernethy Thompson of Washington, DC; son David Glenn Thompson and wife, Betty, of Lincolnton, NC whose children are John McGuigan Thompson of Carlisle, PA and Elizabeth Hostetter Thompson and husband, John Aaron Buzzard, of Fairfax, VA; and daughter Sarah Love Thompson Hudson and husband, Tramm, of Sarasota, FL whose children are Martha Glenn Hudson, Mary Trammell Hudson, and Harris Trammell Hudson of Sarasota, FL.
The family will receive friends Thursday, June 24 at 2:00 p.m. with a memorial service to be held at 3:00 p.m. at Warlick Funeral Home.
The family requests that memorials be made to the Building Fund of First United Methodist Church at 201 East Main Street, Lincolnton, NC 28092, or to Aldersgate Retirement Center at 3800 Shamrock Dr., Charlotte NC 28215.