Odessa Willis Wells

Odessa Willis Wells, age 94, of Henrietta, went home to be with her Lord and Savior on Monday, October 16, 2023 at her residence, while being surrounded by her loving family.

Odessa was born Tuesday, April 16, 1929 in Rutherford County to the late Vonze Willis and Minerva Turner Willis. She worked for Tanner Company and Sophie’s in Forest City as a seamstress for many years. She later worked in textiles for several years. As a young girl she took to sewing and mending and remained as her favorite thing to do. Odessa was a member of Henrietta First Baptist Church, where she was a faithful member of the Betty Ray Adult Sunday School class. Her love for music led her to become a self-taught pianist and guitarist. She always delighted in sewing and cooking for her family and friends. Odessa thoroughly enjoyed working on word search puzzles and playing the game “Aggravation.” She loved the Lord greatly and was a dedicated wife, mother, sister, grandmother and friend.

 In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband of sixty-nine years, Glenn “G.T.” Wells; sisters, Pauline Moore, Irene Lovelace and Georgia Robbins; brother, Hubert Willis; sons-in-law, John McGuire, Ray Morrow; grandson, Christopher Morrow and great-grandson, Christopher McGuire Cowan.

Those left to cherish her memory include four daughters, Glenda Gowan (Steve) of Harris, Sheila Gerringer of Henrietta, Debbie Morrow of Harris and Gail Adair (Mike) of Forest City; a sister, Katie Browder of Apopka, Florida; a very special niece, Judy Crump of Forest City; grandchildren, Alan Adair, Terry Adair, Tracy Blanton (Brad), Kelly Hargett (Jason), Crystal Burgess (Buddy), Sherri Morrow (Chad), Rebecca Morrow, Ronnie Adair (Karen) and Amy Greene (Ryan); eleven great grandchildren, seven great-great grandchildren and two great-great-great grandchildren.

 The funeral service will be conducted at 4:00 pm on Wednesday, October 18th at Henrietta First Baptist Church with Reverend James Johnson and Reverend Randy Church officiating. Interment will follow at Rutherford County Memorial Cemetery. The family will receive friends one hour prior to service time at the church.

     Memorial donations are requested to Henrietta First Baptist Church, PO Box 265, Henrietta, NC  28076 or to Hospice of the Carolina Foothills, PO Box 336, Forest City, NC 28043.