Martha Pate

Martha Pate, 98, widow of The Rev. W. Arnold Pate, died June 25 on her 75th wedding anniversary.  Mrs. Pate is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Emily and Tony Powell, and their children, Nathan (fiancee, Kari Sheehan) and Jessie, her daughter and son-in-law, Martha and Edward Teters, Montreat, NC, and their children, Elizabeth (Jeremy) Riddle and William (Kellie) Teters, and a son, J. Edwin Pate, Sr. of Huntsville, AL, and his children, John Edwin, Jr. and Hannah.  Mrs. Pate had two great-grandchildren, Celeste and Cade Riddle.   Funeral arrangements will be handled by Tom M. Wages locally, and Meares in Fair Bluff, NC.  Mrs. Pate will be buried in the Powell Cemetery on Saturday, July 2 in her hometown of Fair Bluff.  Family will receive visitors at 11:00 AM at the First Baptist Church in Fair Bluff, with services following at noon.    Mrs. Pate was a proud graduate of the Philadelphia General School of Nursing, class of 1935.  She was a devoted Presbyterian minister’s wife in Sanford, NC (1936-1948) and at the Third Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Virginia (1948-1977).  Martha and Arnold retired to Montreat, NC and lived happily there next to their mountain stream until 1994, when she returned to Fair Bluff to live in her old homeplace until 2005.  She moved to Lawrenceville in the last few years to be closer to Emily and Tony.   Mrs. Pate was devoted to her fantastic full-time caregivers, Nicole Hester and Bonita Eberhardt, the staff at the Bridge Assisted Living in Lawrenceville, and her wonderful physician, Spencer Rozin, MD.   In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to The Children’s Home Society of North Carolina, P.O. Box 14608, Greensboro, NC  27415, or to the Greater Fair Bluff Historical Society, Fair Bluff, NC  28439.Read Obituary