Sudie K. Harper

Sudie K. Harper, 88, of Roanoke, passed away on Thursday, October 16, 2008, following a short illness. She was born on May 29, 1920, in Rowan County, N.C., the daughter of the late Jessie Calvin Kluttz and Beulah Wyatt Kluttz. She was preceded in death by her husband, Matthew G. Harper; and a sister, Billie Daniel. In her immediate family, she is survived by two sisters, Vera Dalton, of Nokesville, Va., and Blanch Joseph, of El Paso, Texas; her children and their spouses, Ann Fender and her husband, Roy, of Fairfield, Pa., Jim Harper and his wife, Janie, of Roanoke, and Amy Williamson and her husband, Ethan, of Wilmington, N.C.; grandchildren, Meredith Coffey, of Bethesda, Md., Nicole Dandridge, of Roanoke, Rachel Barham, of Roanoke, Matthew Gordon, of Cambridge, Mass., and Jonathan Harper, of Morrisville, N.C.; and two great-grandchildren, Anna and Harrison Dandridge, of Roanoke. She is also survived by her aunt, Oneida Wyatt, of Badin, N.C.; cousins, Dewey Carroll, of Duluth, Ga., and Tommy Carroll, of Denton, N.C.; and nieces and nephews, Mary Ellen Garduno, of Nokesville, William Daniel, of Palm Bay, Fla., Martha Stox, of Williamston, N.C., Mary Wilson, of Thomasville, N.C., John Joseph, of Friends Word, Texas, Michael Joseph, of El Paso, Becky Watt, of El Paso, Gordon Charlton, of Bradenton, Fla., and Linda Boyd, of Seminole, Fla. Special thanks for her neighbors who were so kind and helpful to her during her final years, Dee and Jack Thompson, Wanda and Gordon Hamilton, and Ellen and Travis Griffith. She became a registered nurse after attending nursing school in Nashville, Tenn., and served as a nurse in the Army during WWII. Following the war and after she raised her children, she returned to nursing at Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where she worked until she retired. For many years, she was the head nurse on the Ob-gyn ward. She was an avid reader and loved learning all her life, which she was able to continue up to two weeks before she died. She especially enjoyed reading history. She liked to listen to The Great Courses series. Some of the courses she listened to in the past few years were on religion, philosophy, history, and science. She also enjoyed doing the New York Times Sunday crossword puzzles. She will be greatly missed by her family. The family will receive visitors at Simpson Funeral Home on Saturday, October 25, 2008, from 2 to 4 p.m. A private funeral will be held in North Carolina. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Good Samaritan Hospice, which helped her greatly when her husband died. Arrangements by Simpson Funeral Home & Crematory, 366-0707.