NORMA KATHLEEN PORTER GARRIS
Dec. 4, 1940-Feb. 22, 2014
EMERALD ISLE -- Norma Kathleen Porter Garris, our sweet Kathy, went home peacefully to join her beloved savior Feb. 22, 2014.
When she was diagnosed with a brain tumor, she told all of us that she was surrounded by a "beautiful, white light and a rainbow of love and support from all the people she loved."
Filled with this peace, Kathy called and talked with as many of us as she could before she began this challenging journey she believed was the right thing for her to do.
Her beloved companion, Peanut, shared her journey, and comforted her as she released her soul to God.
The funeral service will be conducted Saturday, March 1, at 11 a.m. in Wilkerson Funeral chapel. Burial will be in Pinewood Memorial Park, with a reception following at the Hilton Hotel in Greenville, N.C.
Born in Norfolk, Va., Dec. 4, 1940, to the late Norman and Margie Porter, she was lovingly tended as the first grandchild of Murray and Kathleen Porter.
Kathy grew up surrounded by siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, niece and nephews, who treasured their relationship with her, and were always eager to share in her adventures and accomplishments. She treasured her friends, and every child who came into her life was adopted by their Aunt Kathy.
During her professional career, she lived primarily in Washington, D.C., and was employed with the FBI, McClure and Trotter Law Firm and the office of U.S. Sen. Russell Long.
Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Alfred Earl Garris, and her oldest grandchild, Hudson Collin Boyd.
Kathy is survived by her brother, Murray Porter (Barbara) of Goldsboro, N.C.; her sister, Carol Porter Witherell (Tom) of Haymarket, Va.; her stepchildren, Connie Lee Sutton (Gordon), Alfred Earl Garris Jr. and Karen Garris Haddock (Cleve); her beloved grandchildren, Brandon Earl Garris, Erica Jo Garris, Lovie Nicole Haddock, Karly Taylor Haddock, and Shelby Cleve Haddock; her beloved nephews and niece, Timothy Scott Porter (Elizabeth), Christopher Kyle Porter (Katherine), Joseph Bartholomew Conmy IV (Jennifer) and Susan Paige Fischer (Edgar); and her grandnephews and grandnieces, Cade Logan Arnink, Ethan Joseph Arnink, Jordan Mitchell Porter, Laura Nathalie Porter, Sydney Rayne Arnink, Kaitlyn Marie Conmy, Nathan Joseph Conmy and Shane John Conmy.
Please join us at the viewing Friday evening, Feb. 28, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Wilkerson Funeral Home in Greenville, N.C.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, 2620 Forest Hills Road SW, Wilson, N.C., 27893 (www.cff.org), or the American Cancer Society, Wellness Drive, Greenville, N.C., 27834 (www.cancer.org) to further research to cure these diseases.
Online condolences may be made at www.wilkersonfuneralhome.com.
(Pd)
Published in Obituaries on February 26, 2014 1:46 PM