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MABEL  W.  KITCHENS



Mrs. Kitchens, 90, passed away in her home in Hayesville Thursday, April 19, 2007, after several years of declining health. A service to celebrate the life of Mabel Kitchens will be held at 2:00 PM Monday, April 23 at Ivie’s Funeral Home in Hayesville. Visitation will begin at 12 noon to 1:45 prior to the services.  Interment was in Ledford’s Chapel United Methodist Church Cemetery.
 
Mrs. Kitchens was born October 31, 1916, in Clay County, the daughter of Charles Adam and Gertrude Burch. She was married to Neal R. Kitchens who died in 1970. She was preceded in death by an infant son, Buddy Kitchens.
 
Mrs. Kitchens lead an active life, helping her husband operate The Kitchens Lumber Company and assisting him with a large herd of registered polled hereford cattle as they roamed the hills and valleys for what is now know as The Ridges at Mountains Harbour Golf Course. She wrote a weekly column “Clay County Chatter” for the Clay County Progress and the Cherokee Scout and was a correspondent for the Asheville Citizen. She was a member of the Mountain Home Nursing Council and a charter member of the Board of Directors at Hinton Rural Life Center. She helped to organize a branch of the American Cancer Society in Clay County and served for thirty years as chairman. Mrs. Kitchens was a member of the Oak Forest United Methodist Church and attended regularly until her health declined. She had a deep love and respect for the people involved in this church.
 
Surviving to cherish her memories are her daughter Janet and her husband. Hugh Powell;  granddaughters, Lori Hampton and husband, Ryan; and Shawn Stiles; one grandson, Dr. John Neal Powell and wife, Kathy. She will be forever in the hearts of her great grandchildren, whom she loved:  Johanna, Will, Katelyn and Megan Powell; Zachary and Christopher Stiles; and Ashlyn, Peyton, Nathan, and Lauren Hampton.
 
Surviving are two sisters, Mary Street and Tommie Waldroup of Hayesville, and one brother, Bobby Burch of Hayesville. She was preceded in death by four brothers, Ralph, Ray, James, and Charles Burch, Jr.
 
Pallbearers are Larry Groves, Kevin Miller, Kevin Crawford, Carroll McClure, Dan McGlamery, Joe Waldroup, Jeff Deweese, and Mark Stiles. Honorary pallbearers are Will Powell, Zachary and Christopher Stiles.
 
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Oak Forest Church Building Fund, c/o Keith Crawford, 260 Golf Course Rd., Hayesville, or to the Ledford’s Chapel Cemetery Fund, c/o Mary Street, 621 Elf School Rd., Hayesville.
 
Ivie Funeral Home, Hayesville in charge of arrangements.

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