Pheatress Strickland Thigpen received her angel wings Monday February 4, 2013 at Columbus Regional Healthcare System. She was born in the Cherry Grove community of Columbus County July 14, 1923 the daughter of the late Fronis Strickland and Emma Richardson Strickland. She is a 1940 graduate of Cerro Gordo High School and an alumnus of Peace College in Raleigh, NC. She and her husband, the late Wilton A. Thigpen Sr., made their home at Fair Bluff, NC.

She is survived by four children, Dr. F. Ray Thigpen (Donna), Dottie T. Batten (Robert), Wilton A. Thigpen Jr.(Lynda), and Deborah T. Suttles (William) ; six grandsons, Robert Batten II, Johnathan, Matthew, Andrew, and Daniel Thigpen, and Eric Quinn, and one granddaughter, Rachel T. Brunjes, as well as a great grandson Landon Thigpen, and two great granddaughters Lily Brunjes and Emma Quinn. She is survived by one brother, Beasley Strickland of the Cherry Grove community.

She has been a long time member of Fair Bluff Baptist Church. As a template mother and wife she spent her many years being a loving mother and wife always active in her husband's and children's many other functions. She was an avid UNC Tarheel basketball fan never missing a broadcast game. She will be eternally missed by the family she loved, nurtured, and cherished.

The family will receive and greet friends at Meares Funeral Home in Fair Bluff, NC on Wednesday February 6, 2013 from 7 to 9 P.M. The funeral rites will be celebrated at Fair Bluff Baptist Church at 2 P.M. Thursday February 7, 2013. Dr. Ray Lundy officiating followed by a graveside service at the Cherry Grove Baptist Church family cemetery.

The family wishes to extend special thanks to her faithful and loving caregivers Sheila, Anne, Rosalee, Leona, Ruby, and Hazel.

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