Beatrice Rice Wells

Beatrice Rice Wells, 106, died Friday, June 6, 2008, at Givens Health Center. Mrs. Wells was born in Asheville on December 17, 1901, a daughter of the late Charles Logan Rice and Adeline Rutherford Rice. She was a descendant of two pioneer families. One of her ancestors, Captain William Hamilton Moore, came to the area now called Buncombe County with General Griffith Rutherford in 1776. She had many talents and enjoyed music and art. She studied vocal music at George Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee, and sang with several local groups. She was a member of the choir at Central United Methodist Church for many years. While she lived at Givens Estates, she played in the dulcimer group and took classes in painting. She was a graduate of Asheville Normal and Teachers College, and she attended summer schools at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was a teacher in several, Asheville schools including Ira B. Jones Elementary School. She was a member of the North Carolina Classroom Teachers Association, the North Carolina Education Association, the National Education As-sociation and the Alpha Delta Kappa International Honorary Sorority for Women Educators. She was a member of Central United Methodist Church for over 50 years and a member of the Rebekah Circle. She was formerly active in many clubs and organizations including the Asheville Garden Club, the Chatmore Club, the Colonial Literary Club, the Country Club of Asheville, the Twentieth Century Club, the Wise and Otherwise Club, the Woman's Club of Asheville, and several bridge clubs. She was preceded in death by her hus-band, John Kendall Wells II; sisters, Mary Rice Loftis Macemon, Bessie Rice Pickelsimer and Ada Louise Rice; brothers, James Earl Rice and Ray-mond Logan Rice; and ten nieces and nephews. She is survived by her daughters, Mary Louise Powell of Asheville and Elizabeth Anne Trively and her husband, Timothy, of Wesley Chapel, FL.; her grandsons, Winston Trively and wife, Sher, and great-grandsons, Zane and Hunter, of Colquitt, GA., and Martin Trively and wife, Betsy, and great-granddaughters, Clare, Anna and Mia, of Malmo, Sweden; her cousin, Edythe Rutherford Lambert and her husband, Robert, of Clemson, S. C.; and great-niece, Angela Sego and her hus-band, Richard, of Fletcher. A graveside service was held for the family at Green Hills Cemetery. A memorial service will be held in the chapel at Givens Estates on Saturday, June 28, at 11:00 A.M. Her family will receive friends 30 minutes prior to the service. Memorials may be made to the Ada Rice and Beatrice Rice Wells Memorial Scholarship Fund at Warren Wilson College, P. O. Box 9000, Asheville, North Carolina, 28815-9000 or the Supplemental Assistance Fund of Givens Estates United Methodist Retirement Community, 2360 Sweeten Creek Road, Asheville, NC 28803.