Clara Belle Cobb

Published 1:37 pm Friday, December 21, 2012

FRANKLIN—Clara Belle Smith Cobb, 87, passed peacefully into her eternal home with the Lord on Friday, December 21, 2012, on her 69th wedding anniversary surrounded by her loving family.

Clara Belle was born in Southampton County, Va., on September 5, 1925, to the late Enoch Smith and Laura Ostine Banty Smith and was preceded in death by her husband, J G Cobb.

She leaves to cherish her memory three daughters, Brenda Bishop and her husband, Walter (Plucky), of Franklin, Chris Nelson and her husband, John, of Louisville, Ky., and Laura Strickland and her husband, Mike, of Fuquay-Varina, N.C. She has six treasured grandchildren, Michael Bishop and wife, Cassidy, Kelly Bishop Dodson, Zachary Nelson and wife, Molly, Ian Nelson, Aaron Strickland, Ethan Strickland; and seven great-grandchildren. She is survived by one brother, E.J. Smith of Holland, Va.; sisters-in-law Dot Kitchen, Gracie Foster and husband, Frank, Jerline Lankford and husband, Johnny, and Margaret Cobb, all of Franklin; and a host of special nieces and nephews, devoted friends and neighbors, Patsy and Glenn Bridges and Britt and Jo Culpepper, and a host of other special friends.

She was a faithful member of Hunterdale Christian Church where she served as a deaconess and actively participated in women’s circle and Sunday school. She was a woman of diverse talents including cooking, gardening, knitting, sewing and jewelry crafting.

She will be dearly missed and always remembered for her loving smile, her kind heart, her amazing strength and courage. While saddened by her departure from us, we rejoice in the promise of God of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

The funeral will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, December 23, 2012, at Hunterdale Christian Church with Rev. Randy Wright officiating. Burial will follow in Southampton Memorial Park.

The family will receive friends from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday at Wright Funeral Home.

The family extends its gratitude to Southampton Memorial Hospice and the wonderful, loving nurses for their excellent care. Many thanks to Rev. Randy Wright and a host of other relatives, friends and neighbors for their love and support. www.wrightfuneralhome.org.