Lucy Jean Flannery Riddle

Lucy Jean Flannery Riddle, age 86, of West Jefferson, North Carolina passed away peacefully on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 at Margate Health and Rehab.

Lucy was born in Beaverdam Township, Watauga County, North Carolina, on June 22, 1938 to Daniel Boone and Mamie Lee Flannery. She was married on January 16, 1954 to Marvin Dale Riddle in Clifton, North Carolina. Lucy attended the two-room Buffalo School in the Buffalo community in Ashe County and Jefferson Elementary in Jefferson, North Carolina.

With her husband serving in the Navy, Lucy arranged for the building of their first home in the Buffalo Community in the early 1950s. The house was wired for electricity, even though the community wouldn’t have electric or telephone service or even a paved road for a few years. In the late 1950s, Lucy and Dale moved to High Point, North Carolina where she worked for a hosiery knitting plant. They returned to the Buffalo Community in Ashe County in the early 1960s. In the 1970s through the 1990s, Lucy worked for Hanes Knitwear in Jefferson, as a cook at a daycare in Jefferson, and as a cook at Margate Health and Rehab until her retirement.

Lucy was known for her cooking and the large spreads of food and treats at holidays. Lucy and Dale maintained a large garden for many years and Lucy canned most of the vegetables they raised each year and gathered berries, apples, and other fruits for preserves and jams. Lucy was taught by a relative to crochet at a young age and made spreads and doilies most of her life. She collected Depression glass and had a love of her home, her family, and the small community where she was raised and spent most of her life. She was a member of Clifton Baptist Church.

Lucy is survived by her children, Marvin Dean Riddle of Fairhope, Alabama and Randy Aaron Riddle of Mebane, North Carolina; her sisters, Shirley Killen and Linda Pennington of West Jefferson, North Carolina and her niece and nephews, Janet Moretz and Russell Killen of West Jefferson, Ivan Killen of Norcross, Georgia, and Eugene Killen of Concord, North Carolina. She was preceded in death by her husband of 58 years, Marvin Dale Riddle; her parents, Dan and Mamie Flannery; and her brother William Burl Flannery.

Funeral services will be held Sunday, June 30, 2024 at 2:00 pm at Ashelawn Memorial Chapel by Rev. Jimmy Galgano. Burial will follow in the Lewis-Kemp Cemetery.

The family will receive friends from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm on Sunday, June 30, 2024 prior to the service.