Thelma Jessup Edge Dockery was my paternal grandmother. She was born on March 24, 1922 in what she called a dirt floor shanty near the northwest corner of present day Hwy 53 and Johnson Road in the Beaver Dam township of Cumberland County. She was the eldest child and only daughter of Ava Lee Edge and Mary Charlotte Bedsole.
Gramma, as she is most fondly remembered, left home and went to Wilmington and worked in the shipyard. This is where she met my Grandfather, Earl Dockery, who trained her as a tack welder.
They were married on June 2, 1943 in Bennettsville, SC. During their marriage they lived in both White Oak, NC and for some time in Marshall NC in Madison County in the western mountains of NC.
They were married on June 2, 1943 in Bennettsville, SC. During their marriage they lived in both White Oak, NC and for some time in Marshall NC in Madison County in the western mountains of NC.
Sadly, their marriage ended in December of 1976. Gramma resided the remainder of her life in the house her father built. I am now the proud owner of her house.
Gramma died just 22 days shy of her 90th birthday, on March 2, 2012 as I was by her side.
She was laid to rest on March 6, 2012 in the Cumberland Union Baptist Church cemetery beside her first-born son and in front of her maternal Grandparents and Great-Grandparents. As stated on her stone, she may be gone but she will never be forgotten.
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