Obit – Mr. James Hale
Mr. James Hale, a longtime Carthage resident and now of Newport, Tennessee transitioned to his heavenly home-going at his Patter Lane home in Newport with his loving and caring family at his bedside. He was pronounced deceased at 12:33 a.m. E.S.T. Wednesday morning April 12, 2023 and was under the tender care of Smoky Mountain Home Health and Hospice who had been assisting the family with his care during his final earthly journey. Mr. Hale was 81.
Funeral services from the Carthage Chapel of Sanderson Funeral Home were conducted at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon April 15th with his son, Rev. John Hale and Rev. Scott Ezell officiating. Burial followed in the Garden of Everlasting Life at the Smith County Memorial Gardens.
Mr. Hale was one of three children, 2 daughters and a son, of the late Warner Groce Hale who died January 13, 1980 at the age of 65 and Georgie Mae Dickerson Hale who died May 8, 2011 at the age of 85, he was born James Williaum Hale in Middlesboro in Bell County, Kentucky on August 21, 1941.
His two sisters preceded him in death; Betty Jean Hale Barrett who died at the age of 25 on March 18, 1969 and Judy Claudette Hale Ratcliff who died at the age of 70 on September 15, 2017.
In Detroit, Michigan on June 14, 1975 he was united in marriage to the former Mary Ellen Chester.
The Hale’s were preceded in death by a great-granddaughter, Chloe Elizabeth Gregory who died June 27, 2011 at the age of 20 months.
Mr. Hale found his Savior on February 14, 1982. He maintained a firm belief in II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.”
He believed strongly in prayer and evangelism. He prayed with everyone he could and availed himself of every opportunity to point people to Jesus. As a member of the Church of the Nazarene he served his church and his God in any way possible. In his later years, his prayer life strengthened to become an intercessory prayer warrior. He prayed daily for his family, friends, and anyone in need.
Before moving to Newport from Carthage, where he had resided for thirty-five years, he was a member of the Carthage Church of the Nazarene and following him and Mrs. Mary relocating to Newport in May of 2022, he placed membership with the Newport Church of the Nazarene where his son John, is the Pastor and where James remained a faithful and dedicated member.
Surviving in addition to the love of his life, his wife Mary of almost forty-eight years, are their three daughters, Darlene Gregory of Lafayette, Mildred Hale of the Grant Community, Patricia (Patty) Reid of Hartsville; three sons, Jimmy Hale and wife Lavonna of the Pumpkintown Community, Warner Hale and wife Danielle of Carthage, Rev. John Hale and wife Melinda Preston Hale of Newport; ten grandchildren and ten surviving great-grandchildren.
The family requests memorials to assist with the funeral expenses.
SANDERSON of CARTHAGE
