Ethel Poteat Alexander

KANNAPOLIS — Ethel Poteat Alexander, 97, formerly of Kannapolis, died Friday (Jan. 19, 2001) at the N.C. Lutheran Home in Albemarle.

Whitley’s Funeral Home is in charge.

L. Wriston Smith

KANNAPOLIS — L. Wriston Smith, 81, 1577 Daybreak Ridge Road, died Friday (Jan. 19, 2001) at NorthEast Medical Center in Concord.

Whitley’s Funeral Home is in charge.

Edward Lee Beck

MOCKSVILLE — Edward Lee Beck, 66, Edward Beck Road, died Thursday (Jan. 18, 2001) at Forsyth Medical Center, Winston-Salem.

Born April 24, 1934, in Davie County, he was the son of the late Louise Brinkley and Robert E. Beck. He graduated from Farmington High School in 1954. Mr. Beck had retired from Ingersoll-Rand after 26 years with the company after first retiring as custodian at William R. Davie School.

He was a lifetime member of Bear Creek Baptist Church, where he was a former chairman of both the board of deacons and the building committee. Chief organizer of the William R. Davie Volunteer Fire Department, he had served on its board of directors for the past four years. He was a member of the Davie Rescue Squad and the Mocksville Masonic Lodge.

Survivors include wife Edith Howard Beck; son Ricky Beck of Mocksville; daughter Marcia B. Lambe of Mocksville; brother David Wayne Beck of Mocksville; three grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Services: 2 p.m. Sunday at Bear Creek Baptist Church, conducted by the Rev. Cecil Wetherholt and the Rev. Richard Eskew. Burial, church cemetery.

Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday at Eaton Funeral Home.

Memorials: Bear Creek Baptist Church Building Fund, 268 Bear Creek Church Road, Mocksville, NC 27028.

Mary Clark Bullard

ALBEMARLE — Mary Beatrice Clark “Tunnie” Bullard, 86, 33420 Old Salisbury Road, died Thursday (Jan. 18, 2001) at Britthaven of Piedmont.

Born Dec. 31, 1914, in Cabarrus County, she was the daughter of the late Mary Jane Seamone and John W. Clark. She had retired as a spinner at Cannon Mills.

Survivors include son Vern Bullard of Albemarle; two grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

Services: 2 p.m. Sunday at Hartsell Funeral Home, led by the Rev. Buck Canup. Burial at Oakwood Cemetery in Concord.

Visitation: 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home. At other times the family will be at the home of her son at 24520 Half Mile Road.

Jean Hunter Caylor

KANNAPOLIS — Jean Elizabeth Hunter Caylor, 74, 1519 Lydia St., died Thursday (Jan. 18, 2001) at NorthEast Medical Center in Concord.

Born June 7, 1926, in Norfolk Va., she was the daughter of the late Catherine Elizabeth Rowe and Robert Hunter. A homemaker, she was educated at Rufner High School in Norfolk.

Her husband, Carroll Christenberry Gaylor, died Feb. 6, 1988.

Survivors include sons Carroll Christenberry Gaylor Jr. of Reno, Nev., Raymond Ray Gaylor of Concord, and Robert Allen Gaylor, Paul Edward Gaylor and Roy Roger Gaylor, all of China Grove; daughter Sandra Gibson of Kannapolis; brothers Robert Hunter Jr. of Orlando, Fla., and Paul Hunter of California; nine grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.

Services: 3 p.m. Sunday at Linn-Honeycutt Funeral Home in Landis, conducted by the Rev. Dr. Layton Culler. The body will be cremated.

Visitation: 2 to 3 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home.

Betty Dunn

ROCKWELL — Betty Ann Jones Dunn, 63, 780 Geneva Drive, died Thursday (Jan. 18, 2001) at Duke Medical Center, Durham.

Born Jan. 19, 1937, in Pickens County, S.C., she was the daughter of Helen Reynolds Jones Fowler of Jonesville, S.C., and the late Paul Jones.

A homemaker, Mrs. Dunn attended the Gospel Lighthouse in Kannapolis. She was a founder and an active member of the Lung Transplant Support Group affiliated with NorthEast Medical Center, Concord. She was a former member of the Rowan County Humane Society.

Survivors, in addition to her mother, include husband Charles Dunn; daughters Carol Kennedy of Kannapolis, Shirley Disseler of Salisbury and Sally Carpenter of Rockwell; son Chuck Dunn of Charlotte; brother J.D. Jones of Easley, S.C.; and six grandchildren.

Services: 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Gospel Lighthouse in Kannapolis, conducted by the Rev. Jeff W. Helms. Burial at West Lawn Memorial Park in China Grove.

Visitation: 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday at Lady’s Funeral Home in Kannapolis.

Memorials: Duke University Pulmonary Research, Duke University Medical Center, P.O. Box 2629, Durham, NC 27710 or American Lung Association of North Carolina, South Central Area, 5315 Greenbrook, Charlotte, NC 28205-6521.

Mae Mabe Dwiggins

MOCKSVILLE — Mae Mabe Dwiggins, 87, Maple Avenue, died Friday (Jan. 19, 2001) at Rowan Regional Medical Center, Salisbury.

Born April 11, 1913, in Davie County, she was the daughter to the late Meekie Jane Tutterow and John Henry Dwiggins. A homemaker, she had also worked as a retail clerk at the Creative Framing & Stitchery Shop. She was a charter member of the Mocksville Wesleyan Church, where she taught Sunday school.

Her first husband, Charlie Mabe, died in 1945, and her second husband, William Walker Dwiggins, died in 1983.

Survivors include sons Charles David Mabe of Mocksville, James Robert Mabe of High Point, George Lewis Mabe of Bennettsville, S.C., Roscoe Allen Mabe of Salisbury and Lawrence Edward Mabe of Statesville; stepdaughter Mary Lou Bost of Kannapolis; stepsons Don Dwiggins of Phoenix, Ariz., and Thurlough Dwiggins of Patterson, N.J.; 21 grandchildren; and 33 great-grandchildren.

Services: 4 p.m. Sunday at Eaton Funeral Home, conducted by the Rev. George Troyer and the Rev. Harold Pharr. Burial at Center United Methodist Church cemetery.

Visitation: 7 to 9 p.m. today at the funeral home.

Memorials: Senior Center, 644 N. Main Street, Mocksville, NC 27028.

Elizabeth H. Etheridge

WOODLEAF — Elizabeth Hackney Etheridge, 86, 295 Etheridge Road, died Friday (Jan. 19, 2001) at Rowan Regional Medical Center, Salisbury.

Born Sept. 16, 1914, in Chatham County, she was the daughter of the late Lenora Garner and James H. Hackney. Educated in the Chatham County schools, she graduated from Pittsboro High School and Appalachian State University in Boone.

Mrs. Etheridge taught at Woodleaf School for 30 years before retiring in 1974. A member of St. George’s Episcopal Church in Woodleaf, she was active in the continuing preservation of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, built in 1841. She was also a member of the Commission of Historical Churches of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina.

A member of the Epsilon Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma, she was a former member of the Rowan Public Library board and the Order of the Eastern Star. She was also active with the Historic Salisbury Foundation and the Rowan Museum.

Survivors include husband Guy W. Etheridge, whom she married June 19, 1937; son Richard Guy Etheridge of Gastonia; and daughter Betsy Etheridge Brown of Charlotte.

Services: 2 p.m. Monday at Summersett Funeral Home, Salisbury. Burial at Rowan Memorial Park, Salisbury.

Visitation: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home.

Memorials: St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 32, Woodleaf, NC 27054 or Elizabeth Leigh Brown Memorial Fund, c/o Foundation for the Carolinas, 1043 E. Morehead St., Charlotte, NC 28204.

Floyd Alfred Griffin

ALBEMARLE — Floyd Alfred Griffin, 81, 626 Knollwood Circle, died Friday (Jan. 19, 2001) at NorthEast Medical Center in Concord.

Born April 15, 1919, in Stanly County, he was the son of the late Tillman A. and Nancy Mauldin Griffin. Mr. Griffin had retired as a self-employed painter. He also served as minister and preacher for the Veteran Friends at the Hefner VA Medical Center.

A U.S. Army veteran of World War II, he was a member of Bethany United Methodist Church, the Disabled American Veterans, the Veterans of Foreign War and Masonic Lodge 348. He was a 32nd-degree Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner at Oasis Temple in Charlotte.

Survivors include wife Lucille West Griffin; son Donald West Griffin of Charlotte; daughter Ann G. Austin of Albemarle; brothers Clyde Griffin of Charlotte, Ray Griffin of Albemarle, Basil Griffin of Norwood and T.A. Griffin of New London; sisters Isabell Morgan of Albemarle, Margaret Deese of Norwood and Ruby Frick of Albemarle; and three grandchildren.

Services: 2 p.m. Sunday at Stanly Funeral Home, conducted by the Rev. Jeff Sweeney. Burial at Green Memorial United Methodist Church cemetery in Norwood.

Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home.

George Luther Mahala

LEXINGTON — George Luther Mahala, 81, Tall Pines Road, died Friday (Jan. 19, 2001) at Sunbridge of Lexington.

Mr. Mahala was born April 2, 1916, in Davidson County, son of the late George Lee and Clara Mahala. A former employee of Yadkin Finishing Co., he was a charter member of Yadkin Baptist Church.

His first wife, Nellie Jones Mahala, died in 1974.

Survivors include wife Lois Craver Mahala; son Henry Mahala of Salisbury; daughter Frances Britt of Welcome; stepson David Jarvis of Lexington; 16 grandchildren; and 25 great-great-grandchildren

Services: 4 p.m. Sunday at Davidson Funeral Home, conducted by the Rev. Joe A. Newton. Burial at Yadkin Baptist Church cemetery in Rowan County.

Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home and at other times at the residence.

Johnsie Moore Oliphant

MOORESVILLE — Johnsie Moore Oliphant, 82, 455 Mazeppa Road, died Friday (Jan. 19, 2001) at Genesis ElderCare.

Born March 15, 1918, in Iredell County, she was the daughter of the late Mae Lou Edmiston and John E. Moore. She had retired as a textile weaver.

Survivors include husband William O. Oliphant; daughter Jane Hill of Gold Hill; sisters Anita Fesperman, Ruth Patterson and Dot Compton, all of Moores-ville, and Becky Booe of Winston-Salem; brother J.E. Moore of Muncy, Pa.; and two grandsons.

Services: 2 p.m. Sunday at Triplett United Methodist Church, conducted by the Rev. Judy White. Burial, church cemetery.

Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday at Neill Funeral Home.

Memorials: Triplett United Methodist Church, 838 Mazeppa Road, Mooresville, NC 28115.