Evelyn Womble Knight Gunter completed her duties on earth and departed to be with our heavenly Father Sunday, February 19, 2017. She died peacefully in her sleep at age 98. Prior to the past six days, Evelyn was cared for in her home at 305 Hawthorne Avenue, Hamlet, NC. In her final days, she was cared for wonderfully at Hospice Haven in Rockingham. She is predeceased by a husband and survived by a family, all of whom she loved unconditionally and with devotion throughout her entire life. Her beloved husband of 63 years, Woodrow W. Gunter, passed away in the year 2002. Evelyn is survived by her and Woodrow’s three children and their spouses, Ilene G. Brainard and husband Bob (now deceased) of N. Myrtle Beach, SC; Woodrow W. Gunter, II and wife Donna of Rockingham; and Cheryle G. Cheek and husband Larry, of Ocean Isle Beach, NC.

Evelyn’s life was exemplified by unending love of her devoted husband, her three children, her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren. Indeed, her main purpose in life appeared to be that her husband was well taken care of (and well-dressed) and that their children be given every opportunity to be successful in their lives. Evelyn was a member of the Hamlet First Presbyterian Church continuously since around 1945 which is when she and Woodrow moved to Hamlet from Sanford, NC. She participated in many of the church activities, was awarded the Presbyterian Women Honorary Lifetime Membership in the year 2013 for church and community service, and was a faithful partner with her husband in the Hamlet Soup Kitchen, Clothing Closet and Shelter. She will forever be missed by her children and extended family, the members of her church who visited and corresponded with her on a regular basis, her friends with whom and from whom she shopped, and also the so many people she and her loving husband helped along the way. Special thanks are given to her loving and compassionate caregiver of the past two-and-a-half years, Fay Weil.

Evelyn was born in Lee County July 17, 1918, the daughter of Frank Royston Knight and Hattie Emma Bright Knight. She graduated from Pittsboro High School where she excelled in English. Evelyn’s mother died at an early age, leaving Evelyn and her sister, Lucille, to provide for her father and her five brothers, Melvin, Eugene, Wilbur, Ralph and Palmer, all of Sanford and all of whom predeceased her.

Her grandchildren are John Braswell of N. Myrtle Beach, Brian Braswell of Sanford, Will Gunter of Rocky Point, Caroline Gunter of Raleigh, Rebecca Gunter of Rockingham, Clifton Cheek of Ocean Isle Beach, and Grayson Cheek and Baxter Cheek, each of Wilmington, NC. Her great-grandchildren are Chase Gunter of Raleigh, Shane and Evelynn Marie Braswell of Sanford, Tilley-Gray and Maines Cheek of Wilmington, and Cade Gunter of Rocky Point, NC.

Visitation will be held and light food provided beginning at 1 pm Wednesday, February 22, 2017 in the Fellowship Hall of the Hamlet First Presbyterian Church. Following this gathering, the life of Evelyn Gunter will be celebrated in the church sanctuary beginning at 2 pm. The funeral service will be presided by Reverend Belinda Rice, pastor of the Hamlet First Presbyterian Church, and assisted by Reverend Dwight Williams of the Rockingham First Presbyterian Church. Burial services will immediately follow at Richmond Park Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Kitchen Fund of First Presbyterian Church, 200 Rice Street, Hamlet, NC 28345, or to a charity of your choice.

Online condolences may be made at www.watson-kingfuneralhome.com Watson-King Funeral Home in Hamlet is serving the Gunter family.

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