Surry County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Eggleston, Joseph O., 2004 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ JOSEPH "JOE" OWEN EGGLESTON WAKEFIELD - Joseph "Joe" Owen Eggleston, 97, a lifelong resident of Surry County, passed away Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2004, at Tandem Healthcare Center, Windsor, Va. Born June 6, 1907, he was the son of the late Robert Edmond Eggleston and Hattie Goodrich Eggleston. Joe was a retired farmer, a former civilian employee for the U.S. Army at Fort Eustis, and had worked in an auto shop as a woodworker on truck bodies. He was the oldest member of Rocky Hock United Methodist Church and was a former member of the Farmer's Hunt Club. He was preceded in death by his wife, Marie Branch Eggleston. He is survived by his son, Dallas Ray Eggleston and wife, Becky, of Wakefield; three grandchildren, Steven Ray Eggleston of Wakefield, Jeff Owen Eggleston of Black Creek and Linda Lee Harris and husband, Braxton, of Roanoke Rapids, N.C.; four great-grandchildren; and a sister, Lautin E. Ledford of Middlesex, Va. Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 6, in the chapel of Purviance Funeral Home, Wakefield, with the Rev. Roy Drake officiating. Burial will be private. The family will receive friends from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday evening at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial donations may be made to Rocky Hock United Methodist Church, c/o J.S. Whitmore, 2847 White Marsh Road, Wakefield, VA 23888. ****************************************************************************** JOSEPH OWEN EGGLESTON - AGE 95 "A SALUTE TO JOE - FROM ROCKY HOCK UNITED METHODIST CHURCH" What a wonderful time in the history of Rocky Hock Church! Our oldest member, Joe Eggleston, will celebrate his 95th birthday on June 6, 2002. Despite his 95 years, he continues to have an outstanding attendance record here at Rocky Hock. When Joe was born, Rocky Hock was 83 years young and had as our 25th minister, Rev. R.S. Baughan. Today we are 178 years old and 30 ministers later, we have Dr. James Becker and Dr. Don Chapman. It is interesting to think of the names out of the past who were Stewards at Rocky Hock when Joe was young - W.J. Pond, G.R. Drew, H.H. Carroll, J.W. Pond, C.R. Bailey and W.H. Andrews. Joe has seen many changes in his lifetime. He has lived through all the Wars of the 1900's. You had to live during World War II to know the impact that it had on "Little Surry" and our country. Joe has seen the change in transportation for horses to automobiles. Joe remembers when you had to crank both the car and telephone! He has seen a revolution in agriculture from mules to tractors. Anyone living through almost the entire 20th century realizes the tremendous contributions that agriculture has made in the development of our nation. Jos has seen our neighborhood go from kerosene lamps to fully electric homes. What a charge in our lives that was! Joe has seen our "Little Surry" go from three post offices - Anchor, Baileysburg, and Wall's Bridge. Now here are no post offices in our community. We are all served from Wakefield. When Joe grew up on the farm there was always plenty for a boy to do. The many chores included: bringing in the wood, getting up eggs, working the garden, milking cows, churning butter, and the list goes on. Hog killings were always an exciting time for a boy, from cutting out the hogs, making the lard for another year, to making a good supply of lye soap. And how about those hot crackling biscuits - always a part of a hog killing (boy were they good!). What an exciting time, what a long life, what a wonderful person, what an inspiration to all of us here at Rocky Hock! Now I must tell you I was looking forward to interviewing Joe Eggleston this week and then writing my article. But Joe had an accident Thursday of last week. So I look forward to interviewing Joe in the near future and then we will have "the rest of the story." ****************************************************************************** ROCKY HOCK CHURCH BULLETIN: JOSEPH OWEN EGGLESTON - AGE 96 Joe Eggleston will be 96 on June 6, 2003. Joe is Rocky Hock's oldest member. We are quite proud of Joe’s longevity and wish Joe a great birthday on Friday. He is a wonderful person and certainly an inspiration to all who know him. Joe moved to "Little Surry" with his family when he was five years old and has lived in the same house of 91 years. His father worked at Bozarth Lumber Mill on the edge of the Blackwater near their home. Joe named his farm "Poverty Hill." I went by to visit him recently and found Joe on a tractor with a rotary cutter cutting a large pasture there on "Poverty Hill" (amazing at his age). Joe is quick to tell you that those cows and his farm are what keep him going. It has been so interesting talking to Joe about by-gone years in our neighborhood - its people, our church, and farming when it was done by muscles and mules. Joe has seen such changes in his lifetime. He told me about how when he was a small child they would have a corn shuck burning on a cold night - it would be so hot and it was so exciting to him as a boy. One day Joe told be about how in 1935 when he was on a date and saw terrible smoke in the direction of their home. It was at their next-door neighbor's on Blackwater Plantation - the Butler Family was living there at the time, and the large, old colonial home burned to the ground. Two years after that, 1937, Joe married Marie Branch, Joe and Marie had one son, Dallas. Marie died in 1979, and Joe has lived alone since that time, although his son lives across the road. Joe is a great example of one is completely adjusted to rural living - where so much of what happens is beyond your control - be it weather, the markets, or sick cows. Joe has learned to take life just as it comes. Again, we wish Joe a very happy birthday on Friday with many more to come! ****************************************************************************** ROCKY HOCK CHURCH BULLETIN: JOSEPH OWEN EGGLESTON - AGE 97 How proud we are of Joe Eggleston who turned ninety-seven (97) on June 6, 2004! He is "Little Surry's" oldest citizen, and the oldest member of Rocky Hock Church. Someone once wrote, "If you don't write it so your reader gets the message, you might as well not write it at all." I don't want to make that mistake! Joe, we are so proud of your longevity. You are so remarkable in your old age. We want to know how you remained so keen of mind, maintained such a keen wit and a memory of by-gone years that is amazing? You are a link to a community that is long past, and yet, you have had a great understanding of what is going on today. At Rocky Hock Church we know that you attended regularly for 90 years, and you remain dear to us. This year the church celebrates 180 years since it was founded, and you have been a member for half of that time. Joe, you continue to be such an inspiration to all of us. You moved to "Little Surry" when you were five years old. You started at Oakland School on Aberdeen Road and had to walk to school. In a few years, when the school closed, you went to Forest View School, just beyond Rocky Hock, by horse drawn bus. We have all enjoyed those wonderful stories about your schooling and your teachers. The picture of the old school bus in front of Forest View School is a treasured memento. You have told us how you have lived on the same farm since you were five years old, a farm you named "Poverty Ridge." You like to joke about how you lost your freedom in 1937 when you married Marie Branch, and enjoyed a happy marriage for many years. And the stories go on and on... There are so many ways of growing old, and Joe, you are a great example! You have been such a wonderful link to our roots. Joe has a new address. He recently moved from "Poverty Ridge" to Tandem Healthcare of Windsor. "Joe" Joseph Owen EGGLESTON, retired farmer, b. 6 Jun 1907, Surry Co., d. 3 Aug 2004, Windsor, Isle of Wight Co., interred in Rocky Hock Methodist Church Cemetery (Plot 10*), Surry Co., 6 Aug 2004, donated obit, publication unknown *Rocky Hock list, an extension of the Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/surry/cemeteries/rockyhk.txt His parents are buried in Plot 69. A photo of his gravestone is posted with Find a Grave Memorial #137028228. His wife's obits ("Daily Press," Mar. 31, 1979, p. 20, & donated) are posted at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/surry/obits/e242m2ob.txt His father's obits ("Richmond Times-Dispatch" & "Daily Press," June 8, 1938) are posted at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/surry/obits/e242r2ob.txt His widowed mother 2m. widower Leroy William BRITTLE, Sr., but she is buried with Robert. Her obits ("Daily Press," Apr. 4, 1963, p. 37, donated) are posted at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/surry/obits/b634h2ob.txt Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Mrs. Bruce Saunders (bs4403@verizon.net), and re-formatted by File Manager Matt Harris. file at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/surry/obits/e242j1ob.txt