Norman Jay Huntley Sr.

Norman Jay Huntley, Sr., age 88, died Sunday morning, May 11, 2014. He was the last surviving sibling of twelve children born, October 13, 1925, to the late Mildred Duckett Huntley and Thomas Carl Huntley. Mr. Huntley was a master-builder, loved raising cattle and farming. He loved to garden and was a constant help to his neighbors and friends. Mr. Huntley was a survivor of the USS BUSH (DD 529), a Fletcher class destroyer of the U.S. Navy. The ship was commissioned May 10, 1943 and sunk by kamikazes off Okinawa on April 6, 1945. The USS BUSH received seven battle stars for her service. Cdr. James Sturgis Willis was lost with the ship, along with 87 of her crew. Mr. Huntley was a member of Hooper's Creek Baptist Church, serving as secretary and treasurer for 30 years and as deacon for 48. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Wilma Reed Huntley; their son, Norman Jay Huntley, Jr., and his son Tyler; their two daughters, Shirley Darlene Hughes and her husband, Richard, of Cordele, GA, and their two children, Bethany and Benjamin; and Nancy Dianne Lance and her children, Chad and Samantha. He is survived by his sisters-in-law, Martha Huntley and Susie Huntley, Peggy Reed and Frances Wren. He is also survived by eight great-grandchildren: Myles, Lauren and Connor Lance; Samantha, Madison and Liam McNeely; Jessica Hughes; and, Ashton Huntley. The family will receive friends at Hooper's Creek Baptist Church in Fletcher, NC, on Tuesday evening, May 13th, from 6 to 8 p.m. Funeral service will be held at Hooper's Creek Baptist Church on Wednesday, May 14th, at 4 p.m. Presiding over the service will be Rev. Philip Youngblood, pastor of Hooper's Creek Baptist Church, Fletcher, NC; Rev. Gary Locklear, director of Native American Missions Fund Ministries, Pisgah Forest, N.C., and Rev. Richard Hughes, evangelist, Richard Hughes Ministries, Inc., Cordele, GA. Groce Funeral Home at Lake Julian is assisting the family.