NEWTON, NC – Stella Hill Wall Burgess, 94, formerly of Winton, passed away on Tuesday, December 8, 2015 in her home near Hickory after a period of declining health.

Mrs. Burgess was born in Hertford County on October 5, 1921, and was a daughter of the late Leewood and Stella Hill Wall, and step-daughter of the late Sybil Burgess Wall.

A homemaker, she was a member of Holly Springs Baptist Church near the Cofield community of Hertford County. A devoted Christian, she loved everyone and preached goodness and kindness to all. She loved children, animals, and those less fortunate. Her life was a testimony to God’s loving grace and everyone who ever met her loved her instantly. The family is comforted by their knowledge that Heaven is now her new home.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Clayton Burgess, Sr.; daughters, Delia Losey and Sybil Dean Burgess; brothers, Charles, Stanley, and Jay Wall; and by a sister, Kathleen Lassiter.

Surviving are her daughters, Dorothy Beshara and husband Joe of Hickory, Stella Boone of Cary, and Kim York and husband Kenneth of Shallotte; her sons, Henry Burgess and wife Kay of Newsoms, VA, Clayton Burgess, Jr. of Hickory, and Billy Wayne Burgess and wife Lynn of Sedley, VA; sisters, Girlen Pierce and Olethia Taylor, both of Eure, and Elizabeth Drake of Newsoms, VA; a brother, Allen Wall of Winton; and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

Funeral services will be held Friday, December 11 at 2:00 p.m. in the chapel of Miller Funeral Home, 304 Main Street, Gatesville. A private burial will follow in Highland Memorial Gardens in Ahoskie. Friends may join the family in the funeral home on Friday beginning at 12 noon.

Online condolences may be made by visiting www.millerfhc.com.