Thelma Saunders

On September 10, 2015, God fulfilled His promise to Thelma Louise Gragg Saunders that “where I am there you may be also.”Welcoming her into Heaven are her parents Joseph Garfield and Martha Pendley Gragg, husband John Donald Saunders, sons, James Donald Saunders, Bill Moore Saunders, daughters, Loretta Saunders Suddreth and Ruby Saunders Eller. Mrs. Saunders, 100, was born December 4, 1914 in Caldwell County and lived in the Globe Community and Hudson, North Carolina. She was a charter member of the Globe Baptist Church and after retirement was a member of Harris Chapel Baptist Church. She was a beloved Christian by all who knew her or dined at her table. Mrs. Saunders was an accomplished pianist, seamstress, cook, gardener, craft lady, home doctor, barber and champion optimist of life’s joys and hardships.Her self-taught skills made her our modern day Benjamin Franklin.She was especially fond of her family, her dear neighbors, co-workers at Hammary and Kincaid Furniture. From co-workers, her church family and Sunday School Class, to little children, she challenged all of us to feed the hungry and waste not as we remember to be kind to the birds and wild animals. Those blessed by her life include daughter Lois Saunders Huskey and late husband, Ray, of Forest City, North Carolina; Joe Allen Saunders and wife Connie of Millsboro, Delaware; John Finley Saunders and wife Rachel of Hudson, North Carolina; sons-in-law Ed Eller of Lenoir,North Carolina and Jay Suddreth of Patterson, North Carolina; and daughter-in-law Polly Saunders ofHudson, North Carolina. Her fourteen adored grandchildren are Myron Saunders, Sandra Fitts, Michelle Moffitt, Tanya Thomas, Crystal Swanson, Eric Coffey, Kent Huskey, Margaret McKinney, Heather Grimsley, Amber Sites, David Saunders, Emily Carroll, Abrahm Saunders, and Matthew Saunders.Dear to her heart are her twenty great-grandchildren and one great-great grandson. She was preceded in death by her brothers, Robert Lane Gragg and wife Annie Maie of Hudson, North Carolina, Lester Gragg and wife Julia, Ralph Gragg and wife Ruth of Lenoir and sister, Mae Saunders and husband Sherwood. Funeral services will be conducted at 2:00 PM Thursday, September 17, 2015 in the Chapel of Evans Funeral Service with Reverend Ron Burgett and Dr. Barry Keys officiating.Burial will follow in the Globe Cemetery in Globe, North Carolina. Receiving Wednesday, September 16, 2015 from 6:00 to 7:30 Chapel of Evans Funeral Service. Flowers are appreciated or memorials may be made to:Globe Baptist Church, Globe Road, Lenoir, NC 28645 or Caldwell Hospice and Palliative Care, 902 Kirkwood Street, Lenoir, NC28645. Online condolences may be sent to the Saunders Family at www.evansfuneralservice.com Evans Funeral Service & Crematory of Lenoir is serving the Saunders Family. PDF Printable Version