CARTER COUNTY, TN - OBITUARIES - "Sonny" Arthur Asa Hale, 24 Oct 2004 ----¤¤¤---- "Sonny" Arthur Asa Hale, 76, Sabine Street, Elizabethton, died Sunday, October 24, 2004, at Ivy Hall Nursing Home after a courageous struggle with Alzheimer's Disease. Mr. Hale was a native of Carter County and the son of the late Arthur and Sarah Lacy Hale. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by five sisters, Elizabeth Smith, Frances Akers, Virginia Smithdeal, Dorothy Blair and Sarah Mae Hale, and a brother, Luke Hale. Mr. Hale retired as an internal auditor at Citizens Bank and was owner and operator, along with his wife, of Leta's Specialty Shop and Interiors and Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio. He was of the Presbyterian faith. A quote from his brother-in-law, Jesse Birchfield: "Sonny Hale was one of the greatest football players I have ever known. During his high school career he was named two times All Conference, two times All-State, and two times All-Southern. He was recruited by almost every college in the country. While in the Air Force they had a 'Sonny Hale' Day' for him at Carswell Air Force Base. "Moreover, as great a football player as he was, he was even a greater man. I have never known a more considerate, honest, or special person as Sonny Hale. He will be sorely missed by everyone." Survivors include his wife of 46 years, Leta Pope Hale; a son, Michael M. Hale, Fort Worth, Texas; a sister, Katherine Crowe, Elizabethton; a brother and sister-in-law, Dr. C.C. "Bud" and Thelma Hale, Kinston, N.C.; a very special sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Joyce and Jesse Birchfield, Elizabethton; a beloved mother-in-law, Georgia Kate Pope; a very special niece, Dr. Katie Birchfield-Gladstone, and her husband, Bob Gladstone, Miami, Fla.; a brother-in-law, Jerry Pope, Elizabethton; and a god-child, Joey Nicole Taylor, Elizabethton. Graveside services will be conducted at 11 a.m. Wednesday, October 27, at Happy Valley Memorial Park with Rev. Preston Sartelle officiating. Music will be provided by Dr. Katie Birchfield-Gladstone and Butch Edminson. Active pallbearers will be Bruce Presnell, George Dugger, Paul Pless, Bill Greene, Horace Brumit, Harold Lingerfelt, Jim Robinson, Beudell Little, Harry Crowe, Jeff Smith, Bill Broome and Howard Bowers. Honorary pallbearers will be Victor DeLoach, Joe F. Taylor, Rick Richard, Lynwood Barfield, Buford Goldstein, D.C. Walker, Bobby Glass, Jim Jones, Richard Tittle, Jack Crumley, Lester Ballard, Raymond Bautista, Dennis Barnette, his special friends, Michelle Taylor, Diane Barfield, Geri Richard, Betty Jo Barker, Patsy Glass, Judy DeLoach, Kay Jones, Brenda Lewis, Jane Dugger, Nancy Fleming, Mary Shephard, Janice Fair, Carolyn Jane Robinson, JoAnn Paty, Crystal Cordell, Barbara Ballard, Doe Davis, Whitney Taylor, Tiffany Jenkins, Andrea Edmondson, Staff and Residents of Pine Oaks Assisted Living Community and Ivy Hall Nursing Home and Employees of downtown Carter County Bank. Family and friends will assemble at the cemetery at 10:50 a.m. Wednesday. Friends may call at the funeral chapel at any time or at the home of Jesse and Joyce Birchfield, 723 Fairway Drive, Elizabethton. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Memorial Presbyterian Church, 100 East F Street, Elizabethton, TN 37643. Condolences to the Hale family may be e-mailed to mfc@chartertn.net. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: The Elizabethton Star http://www.starhq.com/ -----------------------------------------------------------------------------