GLADYS S. HONTZ
Aug. 5, 1917-June 8, 2011
MOUNT OLIVE -- Gladys Smith Hontz, 93, 307 N. Southerland St., passed away Wednesday morning, June 8, at Wayne Memorial Hospital, where she went for evaluative testing several days earlier.
Services to celebrate her life will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at Tyndall Funeral Home, with Dr. H. Dennis Draper Jr. officiating. Interment will be in Wayne Memorial Park in Goldsboro.
Gladys, a retired educator, was born in Scotland County, and grew up on her parents' farm in Robeson County.
She graduated from Flora McDonald College in 1938, and soon thereafter began her teaching career in Mount Olive, where she met her husband, Lloyd. She taught in both Wayne and Duplin county schools, and later became a librarian, and was a past president of the North Carolina Librarians' Association.
She was much beloved, and will be fondly remembered as a sweet lady, who was active in her community, and was a longtime member of First United Methodist Church of Mount Olive in which she remained very active until her passing.
Gladys was an active and competitive athlete. During her college days, she was the captain of her field hockey team, and athlete of the year.
At one time she coached the MOHS girls' basketball team. Her competitive spirit continued throughout her life, whether playing cards with neighbors or starring at bean bag baseball at the local community center.
Mrs. Hontz is survived by a daughter, Mary Hontz of Winston-Salem; a son and daughter-in-law, Lloyd R. and Janice Hontz of Woodbridge, Va.; and several loving nieces and nephews and their families.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Lloyd H. Hontz; a daughter, Betty Hontz; her parents, Raeford Smith and Hattie Livingston Smith; a brother, Hubert Smith; and a sister, Irene S. Knowles.
The family will receive friends at Tyndall Funeral Home Friday, June 10, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., and at the residence at other times.
Memorials may be made to the Lloyd H. Hontz Family Endowed Library Fund, Mount Olive College, 634 Henderson St., Mount Olive, N.C., 28365.
A Tyndall service.
(Pd)
Published in Obituaries on June 10, 2011 1:48 PM