CLARA MATHEL WILLIFORD REAVES
Died July 18, 2015
Clara (Mathel) Reaves, 98, passed away Saturday night at Smithfield Manor Nursing Home.
She was the daughter of James "Jim" Williford and Nora Alice Pipkin Williford.
She was born in what was known then and now as the Neuse Islands section of Johnston County, near the Wayne County line.
As a child, she attended Riverside Baptist Church and the old country school across the road, Plainfield. Her school teacher, of whom she spoke of with fondness through her life, was Miss Julia Rose. She was the next to the last surviving member of Miss Julia's group of 42 pictured in a1930 photograph. The sole survivor is her first cousin, Bill Hartley of Princeton.
She was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been baptized in 2011 at the age of 94.
A funeral service will be held at Seymour Funeral Home Thursday at 11 a.m., with elder Eddie West and elder Gary Corbett presiding.
The family will receive friends beginning at 10 a.m.
Burial will follow at Evergreen Memorial Cemetery.
She had a deep and abiding love for her family, including a surviving and devoted sister, Elva Williford Baker.
She is also survived by sons, Sherwood Williford and wife, Jane, of Goldsboro and W.H. Williford and wife, Mal, of Arlington, Va.; her grandchildren, Brian Williford of Charlottesville, Va., Cheryl Williford of Arlington, Va., Allen Williford of Clayton, LeAnn Williford Amaya of Los Angeles, Calif., Clay Williford of Laguna Hills, Calif., and Richard Corey Williford of Goldsboro; and her great-grandchildren, Brittany Steele of Sacramento, Calif., Clara Jean, Rylee, Kaeli, Zane Bowden, Ezra, Dax and Maveny (all Willifords) and Athena Amaya.
Had she lived till September, she would have added another great-grandson from expecting parents, Allen and Kory Williford.
Surviving also are a stepdaughter, Joyce Reaves Beverly of Goldsboro, and a stepson, Elwood Reaves of Hampton, Va.
In addition to her parents and her husband, Wilbert H. Reaves, she was preceded in death by sisters, Eunice and Louise Williford, Myrtie Stevens and Mable Knowles, and a brother, James Williford.
Also a stepson, David Reaves.
The family would like to express appreciation to the staff and management at Smithfield Manor Nursing Home, as well as to 3HC Hospice, for their attentive care in her final days.
Seymour Funeral Home is serving the family.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.seymourfuneralhome.com.
(Pd)
Published in Obituaries on July 21, 2015 1:49 PM