NORWOOD M. KORNEGAY
Aug. 19, 1921-Jan. 28, 2009
MOUNT OLIVE -- Norwood M. Kornegay, 87, 1156 Old Smith Chapel Road, died Wednesday night at SunBridge Care Center.
Funeral services will be held Saturday at 3 p.m. at Tyndall Funeral Home. Officiating will be Dr. Dennis Atwood and the Rev. Anthony Z. Gurganus. Interment will follow with military rites in Maplewood Cemetery of Mount Olive.
Visitation will be held at the funeral home on Saturday during the hour preceding the service, and at the residence at other times.
Mr. Kornegay, son of the late George Lullum Kornegay and Kate Edwards, was employed as a letter carrier with the Mount Olive Post Office, retiring in 1986, with more than 30 years of dedicated service.
He was a faithful member of the First Baptist Church of Mount Olive where he had served as deacon for several terms and where he was a member of the Chancel Choir and the Loyal Soldiers Bible Class.
To his family, he was their hero, and he was also regarded as an American hero, having served in the U. S. Navy during World War II in which he was a Radioman First Class. He was aboard the aircraft Yorktown when it sank during the Battle of Midway, surviving in dangerous waters until he was ultimately rescued. Having lost his mother when he was at the age of nine, and his father when he was 16, he made his home with his older brother until he could be self-reliant.
He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Amber Crumpler Kornegay of the home; a daughter, Kathy Kornegay Ellis of Wilmington; twin sons and their wives, Glenwood and Carol Kornegay of Fort Worth, Texas, and Linwood and Sheila Kornegay of Arlington, Texas; three grandchildren, Krisha McCoy and husband, Kevin, of Swampscott, Mass., Jenny Speece and husband, Jay, of Mansfield, Texas, and Matthew Kornegay of Fort Worth, Texas; three great-grandchildren, Mia McCoy, Chase McCoy, and Blake Speece; and his care-givers, Pam and Gary Cox who have provided constant care and companionship for both he and his wife for over the past three years.
In additon to his parents, he was preceded in death by two brothers, Cecil Kornegay and Wilbur Kornegay, and a sister, Katherine Kornegay Wiggins.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be directed to the Chancel Choir or the Loyal Soldiers Bible Class, both in care of First Baptist Church, P.O. Box 239, Mount Olive, N.C., 28365.
Arrangements are being handled by Tyndall Funeral Home.
(Pd)
Published in Obituaries on January 30, 2009 1:47 PM