AHOSKIE, NC – Mary Gertrude Wiggins Myers, age 89, rejoicefully went home to be with her Lord and Savior, and her beloved family members who had gone before, on June 29, 2017 at Vidant Roanoke Chowan Hospital, Ahoskie, NC, after a lengthy illness.

Mrs. Myers was born in Hertford County, NC on July 9, 1927, a daughter of the late Lawson Rashus and Gertrude Maude Dilday Wiggins. Gertrude was the eldest of three children, raised in the Hickory Chapel Community. She was a graduate of Ahoskie High School, graduating highly in her class, when it was still a thirteen-year requirement.

Mrs. Myers began working in an after-school job at the age of fifteen at the Ahoskie Department Store, a job she truly loved and enjoyed, she would always say. After graduation, she was employed by N.S. Godwin Wholesale Company for 52 years and at Godwin Gas Company as secretary, bookkeeper, and office manager. After these businesses closed, Gertrude worked at Ace Hardware of Ahoskie as an assistant office secretary until her retirement. In addition, Gertrude also assisted her husband with many aspects of the family business, A. W. Myers Building Supply in Ahoskie, for many years.

Formerly a member of Hickory Chapel Free Will Baptist Church, Gertrude was a faithful member of First Baptist Church of Ahoskie where she was involved in the Women’s Missionary Union, Y.W.A., was honored and humbled to serve as a Deaconess, and sang in the Adult Sanctuary Choir. She also served on numerous committees, including Hostess and Wedding Committees, and Nominating Committee, and was a member of the Sarah Raynor, Edith Freeman, and joint classes of the Business Men’s Bible Sunday School Classes.

As an active community minded person, Mrs. Myers was a member of the Women’s Division of the Ahoskie Chamber of Commerce, and was awarded the Chamber’s, “Working Woman of the Year”. She enjoyed working on Christmas floats for many town Christmas parades, and assisted with preparing food and decorating for the Chamber’s Annual Open House, and all sponsored events. Gertrude was a member of the GF-NCFWC, a charter member of the Ahoskie Junior Women’s Club and the Ahoskie Women’s Club, for a total of 70 years membership in the two clubs. She was very active in the club, having held the office of President for two terms, Parliamentarian, Arts Department Chairman, Home Life Department Chairman and most, if not all department and committee chairs or co-chairs and offices. She was honored by the General Federation of Women’s Clubs and the North Carolina Federation of Woman’s Clubs with lifetime memberships. For her dedicated efforts, her local fellow club members awarded her the Minnie Lou Parker Creech Clubwoman of the Year and was nominated for the same award on the district level. She recently received a 50-year Women’s Club Membership Certificate.

Gertrude enjoyed decorating both inside and out, spending countless hours in her yard working, planting, and grooming it, for which she was awarded “Yard of the Month, repeatedly. She also obtained her Floral Designing Certification from RCCC. Throughout the year, but especially in the spring and summer, she would provide for and glean from the family vegetable garden, food and flowers for her family and friends, and those in need almost daily, canning and freezing so she always had enough for the year.

Mrs. Myers always sacrificed her own needs and desires for her family and others she encountered. She always said she was here to help others first and she lived that daily. She was as the Bible verses described in Proverbs 31:23-31, “A Virtuous Woman”. She gave her time and self in a true Christian manner, always smiling, uplifting others, and working hard as a Servant of God, as long as her health permitted. She will be truly missed by all who knew and were touched by her.

Besides her parents, Mrs. Myers was preceded in death by her devoted husband of 60 years, Archie Wayne Myers, Jr.; her brothers, Arthur Lee Wiggins and Fred Lawson Wiggins; and her aunt, Hazel Dilday Wiggins.

Left to cherish her memory is her daughter, Rita Ann Myers Bula and husband Jeffrey of Windsor, Ontario, Canada; her son, Alan Wayne Myers of Ahoskie, her granddaughter, Mary Elizabeth Myers, and grandson, Alan Weston “West” Myers, both of Greenville, NC; cousins, Janice Morris of Ahoskie and Brenda Holster and husband, John of Virginia Beach, VA, and several other cousins and family members.

The family will receive friends on Saturday, July 1, 2017 from 7:00 pm until 8:30 pm at Garrett-Sykes Funeral Service of Ahoskie, NC and other times at the home at 400 N. Curtis St., Ahoskie, NC.

A celebration of life service will be held on Sunday, July 2, 2017, at 2:00 pm at First Baptist Church of Ahoskie, with the Rev. Robbie Parker and Rev. Trey Gilliam officiating. Burial will follow in the Ahoskie Cemetery.

Organizations very near and dear to Gertrude’s heart were the following and any donations would be greatly appreciated. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made directly to First Baptist Church of Ahoskie, P.O. Box 649, Ahoskie, NC, 27910; Hickory Chapel Original Free Will Baptist Church, 530 NC 561 E., Ahoskie, NC, 27910; Mars Hill Baptist Church, 1325 Meadow Rd., Colerain, NC, 27924; the Ahoskie Chamber of Commerce (Arthur Lee Wiggins Fund), the Ahoskie Woman’s Club, or the Ahoskie Junior Woman’s Club, or you may donate online by visiting www.tmcfunding.com/search, then type Gertrude Wiggins Myers.

Garrett-Sykes Funeral Service of Ahoskie is serving the Myers family and online condolences may be directed to the family by visiting www.garrettsykesfs.com.