J.C. Long, Jr.

On Monday, March 30, J.C. Long, 82, of Fletcher, passed away peacefully at Park Ridge Hospital and went to be with his Lord and Savior. He was born in Clay County in 1932 and has lived in Buncombe and Henderson Counties for the past 50 years. He retired from the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and was a member of the District 2 State Employees Association. He was a Baptist of Faith and attended Boiling Springs Baptist Church. He was a son of the late James C. Long Sr. and Ethel Crawford Long of Bryson City and was also preceded in death by one nephew, Jim Beck. Surviving are his wife of 59 years, Hazel Adams Long of Fletcher; three children, Cindy Parker and her husband, Mike, Kenny Long and his wife, Wendy and Lucia Tatham and her husband, Richard; three grandchildren, Megan Penland and her husband, Josh, Kayla Tatham and Zachary Tatham; two great grandsons Tristan and Brayden Penland, all of Fletcher; two sisters Janet Beck and her husband, Tim, Brenda Morgan and her husband, Jim; one brother Melvyn Long and his wife, Sharon; two uncles Charlie Long and his wife, Joan and Harold Dean Long and his wife, Jean; one aunt Carolyn Bowers and several special nieces and nephews. A funeral service will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, April 4, 2015 at Boiling Springs Baptist Church. Interment will follow at Patty's Chapel Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 6:00-8:00 PM on Friday, April 3 at Groce Funeral Home at Lake Julian. In lieu of flowers, JC's family requests that you consider making a contribution in his memory to the James C. Long Scholarship Fund through the State Employees' Association of North Carolina District 2, 371 Hidden Valley Circle, Canton, NC 28712.