Beulah Carlyle Etheridge

Beulah Carlyle Etheridge passed away on June 5, 2024. ­­­­­­­­­­­A private graveside service will be conducted with her grandson, Rev. Matt Spence officiating.  The family will receive friends at the homes of Patsy Woodard and/or Junior Etheridge. 

She was born to the late Burl Thomas and Glatha Ann Carlyle in Franklin County on November 24, 1932. She worked beside her dad in the tobacco fields of Franklin County until her marriage to the late Tommie Etheridge on November 14, 1953. Beulah met her husband-to-be while working briefly at Herring’s Drug Store in Wilson with Tommie’s sister, Dot Etheridge (Webb). After their marriage she continued to labor with her husband and community neighbors in tobacco. She also worked for several manufacturing businesses through the years. Beulah enjoyed raising a garden and working outside. She shared the vegetables of her gardens with family, neighbors, and friends. She froze and canned many vegetables through the years. She especially loved putting up sweet pickles. She was a great cook and made the best cakes and pies. She shared many plates of home cooked meals with family, friends, and neighbors. Beulah suffered from a farm accident in 1988 that affected both of her legs and put her in a wheelchair for weeks. She pressed on doing domestic household chores from her wheelchair and during this time she learned to crochet and made many beautiful Afghans.  She shared them with her children and friends.

Beulah also enjoyed sewing together many homemade quilts, a skill she learned from her mother. She blessed her children and grandchildren with many of these quilts. She very seldom let anyone who visited with her leave without sharing something with them.

Beulah loved having a bird feeder and watching the birds feed from her living room window and window at the Health Center.  She was a lover of animals, especially dogs and cats. She loved them like her own children.

Beulah spent the last several years at The Brian Center, now Wilson Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Wilson.

She was proceeded in death by her husband of almost 58 years, Tommie Etheridge; grandson, David Thomas Etheridge; son-In-law, Charles Woodard Jr.; brothers, Delbert, Tommy, Izell, and Darnell Carlyle, and her sisters, Mamie Fowler, Bethie Carlyle, Doris Driver, and Vianna Bailey.

Beulah is survived by her daughters, Patsy Spence Woodard of Wilson, and Jeannette Fulghum of Holly Ridge; sons, Junior Etheridge, (life partner, Judy Howard) and Terry Etheridge (Renee) of Wilson; grandchildren, Brookie Jo Cummings (Travis), Holly Belle Pinckney (Eric), and John Spence (Jessie) all of Lucama, Rev. Matt Spence (Nicole) of Kenly, Allen Fulghum of Holly Ridge and Landon Etheridge of Wilson; great-grandchildren, Nyx, and Owen Etheridge, Gabe, Mattie, Eden and Jett Spence; sisters, Irene Horton, Betty Bunn, and Glenda Langley; brothers, Chester, Coy and Curlee Carlyle, and many nieces and nephews.

The family extends thanks to Wilson Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center and Gentiva Hospice for their care for their mother.  Also, thanks to friends and family for your thoughts, prayers, cards, and visits. Special thanks to Joyner’s Funeral Home for their help in the funeral and burial arrangements.

Condolences directed to Joyner’s Funeral Home and Crematory at www.joyners.net.