Allene Honeycutt

Coats, NC:  Mrs. Allene Turlington Honeycutt, age 100, died Saturday, December 21, 2013, in Decatur, GA.  Funeral Services will be 11:00AM Thursday, January 2, 2014 at Rose & Graham Funeral Chapel in Coats.  Rev. Jesse Mooney will officiate.  Burial will follow in Harnett Devotional Gardens in Dunn.      She didn’t quite make it to 101--a broken hip interfered.  Allene Honeycutt was the last baby of 15 children born to William H. and Lizzie Penny Turlington on March 22, 1913.  She grew up on a farm in Coats, North Carolina; went to Coats School; and then on to East Carolina University, formally known as East Carolina Teachers College.     She married James Ransom Honeycutt on December 27, 1933, and had two daughters, Carol in 1935 and Rebecca in 1942.  Allene and James built their home on part of the land that Allene grew up on.  He died in 1972 and she continued to live in her home until she was 95 when she moved to Decatur, Georgia to be near her daughter, Carol.  She lived at the Regency for Independent Living until her death.  She had begun to call the Regency home and loved so many of the staff and residents there.       Allene believed in working hard and making your own destiny.  She taught at Coats School in the 1940s and then went to work at Hockfields Ladies Clothing Store for 25 years until they closed.  She then worked at Lucknow’s Specialty Dress Shop for 6 years, which later became Cashie’s Specialty Dress Shop, where she worked 18 years until it closed.  She was active in the Coats Senior Community; went to water exercise three times a week at Campbell University with other seniors; she delivered meals with Meals on Wheels; and was a member of the Coats Baptist Church.  Until her move, one of her greatest joys was taking care of her beautiful yard and flowers and she even won Yard of the Month.       During the 70s and 80s and 90s, she traveled and loved it.  She traveled with the Coats seniors all over the United States, Canada, and Nova Scotia. With her daughters, she went to Paris; London; Rome; Seoul, Korea; Hong Kong, China; and spent a Christmas in Argentina. After moving to Decatur, she traveled with her daughter Carol and family to Arizona, California, the Grand Canyon, and had many wonderful trips to the beach.  Her special beach trips were to Topsail Island, North Carolina, with family and a special niece, Anne Sharpe, for “girls” week at the beach.        On her 100th birthday, the Regency had a wonderful party to celebrate. Family and friends joined the staff and residents, and Fox News interviewed her.  Her family traveled to Coats, North Carolina to have a huge 100th birthday celebration.  It was a beautiful gathering of friends and family.      We have wonderful and beautiful memories of gardening, collecting pecans and preparing meals in her house when we gathered in North Carolina.  She taught her grand children and great grand children how to garden and enjoy being outside.  The promise of her fried chicken would draw family from two states away.  At Allene’s house, we never had a glass of wine before 4 pm, but never had to wait until 4:01.  She was the first up at the start of the day and no matter the task, the last to stop working, be it helping grandchildren move, fixing grandchildren’s fledgling gardens or helping decorate new homes.  Wherever she went, she touched people and made lifelong friends across the country.  She loved our friends, our hairy dogs and our motorcycles.  Life was wonderful with Allene in North Carolina and Georgia and we will always have an extra glass and a chair waiting on the back deck, wherever we are.      Allene is survived by her two daughters, Carol (Eugene)Hollahan of Decatur, GA and Rebecca Cohen (former son-in-law, Ken Cohen) of Tucson, AZ; her 5 grand children: Mark (Kim)Hollahan, Brian (Nadya)Hollahan, Kate (Andy) Kessler, Karen Cohen, Kristen (Casey) Baum; and 9 great grand children: Cameron and Grace Kessler; Maddie Cohen-Howard; Avery and Clara Baum; Thomas and Oliver Hollahan; and Ransom James and Jackson Hollahan.     Family will receive friends at Rose & Graham Funeral Home in Coats Thursday from 10:00AM to 10:45AM prior to the service.      In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to one's favorite charity.