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W. Raper Obituary
Mount Olive
Dr. W. Burkette Raper, 83, of Mount Olive, died peacefully on Monday, August 1, 2011, following a courageous battle with cancer. Burkette, the son of the late William Cecil and Beulah Davis Raper, was born September 10, 1927, in the Black Creek Community of Wilson County.
He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Rose Mallard Raper; and children, Olivia R. Best of Faison, Kristie R. Bailey (Gary) of Goldsboro, Burke Raper, (Susan) of Durham, Elizabeth R. Hood (Brad) of La Grange, Laura R. Buddin (Mike) of Murrells Inlet, SC. They have nine grandchildren: Jeffrey Lassiter (Emily), Will Best (Meghan), Suzanne Wise (Anthony), Justin Bailey, Mathew Hood, Michael Hood, Carl Buddin, Catherine Buddin, and Grace Buddin; and six great-grandchildren, Alexis Wise, Morgan Wise, Miranda Blizzard, Shannon Wise, Annie Rose Lassiter, and Andrew Lassiter. He is survived by a brother, James Earl Raper of Turbeville, SC, a sister, Mary R. O'Donnell of Athens, GA, a brother-in-law, Fred A. Davenport of Plymouth, NC, two half-brothers, David Jones of Virginia, Daniel Jones of Pennsylvania, and a half-sister, Sally J. Taylor.
He was predeceased by a son, Stephen Lee Raper, and a sister, Catherine R. Davenport.
Funeral services will be held on Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. in Kornegay Arena, 634 Henderson Street on the campus of Mount Olive College, Mount Olive, NC. Interment will be at Friendship Original Free Will Baptist Church Cemetery, at the intersection of Ten Mile Fork Road and Highway 41N, Jones County, Trenton, NC.
Visitors are welcome to Rodgers Chapel on the campus of Mount Olive College where the body will lie in state on Wednesday, August 3, 2011 from 12:00-4:00 p.m. The family will receive friends in the Chapel from 4:00-7:00 p.m.
Those who wish to make memorials are invited to consider the W. Burkette and Rose M. Raper Endowment for educational and charitable purposes with the North Carolina Foundation for Christian Ministries, Post Office Box 210, Mount Olive, NC 28365-0210. www.tyndallfh.com
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for W. Raper
4 Entries
Josie (Hatem) Patterson
August 15, 2011
I am really going to miss seeing Burkette at the Alumni Gathering at the Children's Home. He was a connection to my stay at the Orphanage...he will be grately missed...my sympathy to his family.
Sylvia & Ancel Mewborn
August 4, 2011
Rev. Raper was a very special person to my husband and me. He was pastor of my home church, Hull Road Free Will Baptist, when he married us on January 30, 1954.
August 3, 2011
Dr. Raper was a good friend and a wonderful human being. He will truly be missed, and Bob and I extend our deepest sympathy to all of his family during this time of bereavement. Bev Perdue
Janie Fouke
August 3, 2011
Burkette Raper was a "fixture" in my family from the time he was a little boy, spending week-ends and summer holidays (as many children from the FWB Children's Home did) in my grandfather's home. He told me wonderful stories about my mother, his contemporary,and the pranks and games that they played as children.
But my experience with him was as an educator ... and I would only hope that the marks that I leave on the educational instituions that I have served are some fraction of the marks that he has left on Mount Olive College and the communities that it serves.
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