Grace Ward Brooks

Star - Grace Ward Brooks, lifetime resident of Ether, North Carolina community located in Montgomery County, died on Thursday, April 18, 2013, at her home. Funeral services will be held at Phillips Funeral Home Chapel, 216 South Main Street, Star on Sunday, April 21, at 2:00 PM with the Rev. Dr. Jim Langford officiating. Family members will receive guest one hour before the service. Burial will follow at White Oak Springs Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery located in Ether. Grace was born on October 9, 1919, in Ether to the late Lillie Esther Boroughs Ward and Jesse Franklin Ward. Mrs. Brooks retired from Russell Hosiery Mill after forty-seven years of service in 1985. She enjoyed traveling, quilting, and spending time with her daughters in her retirement years. She was also preceded by the death of her husband, Tom Stewart Brooks; her brothers, Clifford Franklin Ward, Joe Anderson Ward; and her sisters, Lula Mildred Ward Massey, Edna Mahali Ward Lake, Lillie Gray Ward Watkins, and Jessie Mae Ward Mieklejohn. She is survived by one sister, Lucy Corrina Ward Davis. Mrs. Brooks is also survived by her daughters, Kay Frances Brooks Schimanski of Asheboro; Brenda Joyce Brooks Barger of Hickory; Rita Ann Brooks Wiles of Statesville; Lithia Esther Brooks of Oak Island; and Debbie Pearlena Brooks Sheppard of Albemarle. Grace is also survived by seven grandchildren, eighteen great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild. Memorials may be made to FirstHealth Hospice Foundation, 150 Applecross Road, Pinehurst, NC 28374. Funeral services will be held at Phillips Funeral Home Chapel, 216 South Main Street, Star on Sunday, April 21, at 2:00 PM with the Rev. Dr. Jim Langford officiating. Family members will receive guest one hour before the service. Burial will follow at White Oak Springs Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery located in Ether.