Mrs. Evadell Rudisill Hood

The daughter of the late Caleb Edney and Bertha Hicks Rudisill, she was born on November 17, 1912, the second of the couple’s four children.

Mrs. Hood was educated at the Ebenezer Academy at Cooksville and at Banoak High School. A member of the class of 1931, she was the oldest living graduate at her death. She was also the oldest member of Ebenezer United Methodist Church where services will be held.

Mrs. Hood was preceded in death by her husband, Howard Foard Hood, in 1991, their eldest daughter, Margaret Lucille Hood in 1947, and by their seventh child, Deborah Beulah Ann Hood, in 1981. She was also predeceased by her siblings, Lecie R. Benfield, Voyt Fulmer Rudisill and Catherine R. Rhoney.

Evadell Hood was a countrywoman of a class and manner defined by an abiding devotion to family, church and community. She and her late husband wore their descent from several pioneering settlers of today’s Catawba County lightly, and lived lives among a large circle of kinsmen and friends in once-rural Catawba County. She retained warm childhood memories of her maternal grandfather, Nicholas Hicks, whose mother, Margaret Joyce, emigrated with her family at a young age from Belfast, Ireland. Her “Irish grandfather” died in 1927. Mrs. Hood researched and co-authored family genealogies published in 1986 in THE HERITAGE OF CATAWBA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA.

Mrs. Hood grew up in Ebenezer Church where she was a long-time Sunday School teacher and a founder of the woman’s missionary society, today’s United Methodist Women. For many years, she distributed The Upper Room on behalf of her church throughout the community. Mrs. Hood was honored as Layperson of the Year in l995 by Ebenezer Church.

Evadell Hood had a long-held affection for Banoak School where she excelled as one of its first students and in sports. She was ever proud of having been on the team that won the Catawba County Girls Basketball Championship in 1930. In 1998 Mrs. Hood supported the All-Class Reunion held at the school for students who attended Banoak from its opening until 1953 and the consolidation forming Fred T. Foard High School. In the 1990s she was secretary of the Fred T. Foard Senior Citizens Club.

Evadell Hood is survived by three daughters and two sons; Joann H. Wright, Marlene H. (Mrs. Elmer)Lindsay, Shelba Jean (Mrs. Ray) Lackey, Howard Dean Hood and wife, Jo, and Davyd Foard Hood, all of Vale. She is also survived by eleven grandchildren; Samuel Wright, Durayne Hood, Jackie L. Houser, and Allen Lindsay of Vale, Tammy L. Thomas, Mara T Lindsay and Amy L. McCormick of Hickory, Donna H. Deitz of Newton, Faith W. Martin of Lexington, Timothy Lackey of Seneca, South Carolina, and Jennifer H. Joyner of Andalusia, Alabama. Her descendents include eighteen great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister-in-law, Pauline R. Rudisill.

The funeral services will be held on Wednesday, September 12, at 3:00 P. M. at Ebenezer United Methodist Church, Cooksville Road, Vale with the Reverend Anthony Sayer and Reverend Ronald Doub officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. The family will receive friends from 1:30 – 2:45 P. M.

Memorials can be made to Ebenezer United Methodist Church, Wanda Robinson, Treasurer, 5905 Old Shelby Rd., Vale, NC 28168 or to Palliative CareCenter & Hospice of Catawba Valley, Inc., 3975 Robinson Rd., Newton, N. C. 28658.

Condolences may be made online at www.hickoryfh.com.

Hickory Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.