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Saturday, May 27, 2023
9:00 - 10:30 am (Eastern time)
Saturday, May 27, 2023
11:00 - 11:45 am (Eastern time)
Saturday, May 27, 2023
11:45am - 12:45 pm (Eastern time)
Anna Ruth King Hester, born August 15, 1938, entered into eternal rest with our Lord Jesus Christ on Monday, May 22. She is survived by seven of her eight children, Elizabeth Snyder (David), Emily Villegas (Bobby), Ruth Robertson, Worth Hester, Jr (Karla), Matthew Hester (Cindy), Mark Hester (Rebecca), and Anita Willington (Brian). Her seventeen grandchildren and seventeen great-grandchildren will also carry on her legacy of Christian love as they strive to emulate the goodness and selfless compassion which flowed from her heart even to her very last breath. Anna Ruth was preceded in death by her husband of 47 years, Worth Hester, her son, Henry Clifton Hester, her son-in-law, Jeffrey Lee Robertson, and her great-grandson, Jeffrey Drake Faircloth who, without a doubt, is nestled in her arms at this very moment. A celebration is indeed underway in Heaven as she is reunited with all those who have gone before and even more, as she can finally sit at the feet of her first and truest love, Jesus.
The daughter of JR and Sudie King, Anna Ruth grew up in Wallace, NC and graduated from Wallace High School, a member of the Class of 1956. A 1960 graduate of Wake Forest University, she went on to seminary for one year with the intention of working with church music and youth. After working at Elizabethtown Baptist Church (EBC) for a summer, she met Worth. The two quickly fell in love and married soon after. From this union, the Hester clan, as they are so often called, was born.
Anna Ruth’s devotion to her family was only ever eclipsed by her devotion to Christ as He was always her core! While her seminary days may have been cut short, her ministry had only just begun, and the evidence of that ministry is visible in every one of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She started the Auxilliary at Bladen County Hospital where she also worked in the physical therapy department, led the EBC choir, started and led the Bladen Community Chorus, became recertified as a teacher and began teaching middle school French at the age of 50, maintained her famous flower garden, and both loved and usually adopted every single animal who EVER came into her yard! She did all of this and so much more while raising eight children who loved and adored Christ and family above all. These activities gave her a sense of purpose, but it was raising her eight children to know Christ that brought her joy and fulfillment–without argument, it was indeed her greatest achievement.
The family will receive friends from 9-10:30 am on Saturday, May 27, 2023 at the Elizabethtown Baptist Church in Elizabethtown, NC. The funeral service will follow at 11:00 am with the Reverend Brenda Flowers, Dr. Jerry Wallace and Dr. Jason Villegas officiating. A burial will follow the services in the Elizabethtown City Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to the Elizabethtown Baptist Church.
Saturday, May 27, 2023
9:00 - 10:30 am (Eastern time)
Elizabethtown Baptist Church
Saturday, May 27, 2023
11:00 - 11:45 am (Eastern time)
Elizabethtown Baptist Church
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