Hester Hayes Tyson

Hester Hayes Tyson April 29, 1923 – September 4, 2018 Hester Hayes Tyson, age 95 of Elm City died in Lumberton, on September 4, 2018 surrounded by her family. Hester was a resident at Wesley Pines Retirement Community. Hester was born on April 29, 1923 in Lumberton to Furman and Lydia Hester Hayes. She married Cecil W. Tyson in 1950 and moved with him to Elm City where she enjoyed living until she returned home to Lumberton in 2016. Hester enjoyed a forty-nine year career with Lee Motor Company in Wilson where she proudly worked in various capacities including Office Manager, General Manager, Secretary-Treasurer and Vice President. A dedicated member of Elm City Missionary Baptist Church, she served in many capacities including church pianist, choir director, Sunday school teacher, Deaconess, Treasurer and WMU President. Hester was passionate about music and loved singing with the Wilson Civic Chorus and Wilson Chorale. She was always ready to take the piano bench at family celebrations and make a “joyful noise” as an alto with her big musical family. An avid reader and book lover, she was instrumental in helping create Elm City Friends of the Library to install a Wilson County Public Library Branch in Elm City, the largest in the county. Hester played a strategic role in fundraising and securing the new library building and served a lengthy tenure as an Executive Officer on the Board of Directors. She was also a member of the Elm City Rotary Club. In addition to her parents, Hester was preceded in death by her husband, Cecil; sisters, Corinne Henderson and Elizabeth Young and brothers, Floyd Hayes, A.C. Hayes and Bobby Hayes. She is survived by her sisters, Laura Floyd of Fairmont, and Kathryn Calvert (Heyward Calvert) of Lumberton; and sisters-in-law, Dot Hayes of Lumberton and Minnie Lee Winborne of Greensboro and a large number of loving nieces and nephews scattered across the globe. Before moving to Lumberton, Hester was blessed by the love and care of her friend and aid, Lillie Edwards. In Lumberton she was cared for by her family, her sitters Libby Freeman and Denise Barton and the staff at Wesley Pines. Her funeral service will be conducted at 3 p.m. Saturday, September 8, 2018 at Joyner’s Funeral Home, Wilson. The Rev. David Ruth, friend and minister of First Presbyterian Church in Lumberton will officiate. Interment will follow in Cedar Grove Cemetery, Elm City. The family will receive visitors at 2 – 2:45 p.m. Saturday prior to the service, at Joyner’s Funeral Home, 4100 Raleigh Road, Wilson. Memorial gifts may be made to the Baptist Children’s Home of North Carolina, PO Box 338, Thomasville, North Carolina 27361. Condolences may be directed to Joyner’s Funeral Home at www.joyners.net.