Joyce Auman

Joyce Womack Auman, 95, of West End, died on Monday, March 5.

Funeral Services will held at 1 p.m. on Thursday, March 8,  at the West End Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Maggie F.  Beamguard and the Rev. W. Dudley Crawford officiating. Burial will follow in the West End Cemetery with a reception afterwards at the Crawford Center.

She was born January 23, 1923, in Carthage to Fred and Beulah Way Womack.  She loved her formative years in Carthage, sang in the Methodist Church choir, made many life-long friends, and always referred to “Sweet Carthage.”   After graduating with honors from Carthage High School where she excelled in athletics, she received a degree in legal administration from Greensboro College.  Following college she returned to Carthage where she thrived in her legal work, loved going to the court house, and was known to fill in at lunch hour when her brother Rudy was short of help at the Carthage Hotel.  She worked for the firms of Mosely Boyette in Carthage and Lamont Brown in Southern Pines.

In 1948, she married  F. Earl Auman, and moved to West End where they celebrated 56 years of marriage.  Joyce’s years in West End were filled with life-long friends, family, and church activities at the West End Presbyterian Church where she sang in the choir, belonged to a circle, and typed the church bulletin.  Always active, the family remembers her bike trips around Seven Lakes West when it was under construction. She played tennis and enjoyed square dancing. Music was always a part of her life whether it was playing the piano, singing, or filling her home with tunes.  She is fondly remembered by her nieces and nephews in the Womack and Auman families for her wonderful spirit, constant love, and encouragement. Her great legacy to all who knew her is her vibrant spirit.

Her husband, as well as her four older brothers, Gentry, James  “Buck”, Rudy, and L. B. “Monk” Womack all preceded her in death.  She is also preceded in death by her son-in-law Robert I. Rieger.

Surviving are her daughters, Jean Auman Rieger, of Raleigh, and Susan Way Auman, of Wilson, and grandsons, C. Scott deKeyzer and Benjamin A. deKeyzer, both of Raleigh.   She is also survived by her sister-in-law, Maxine Auman of Sanford who introduced Joyce and Earl back in the Carthage days.

The family expresses gratitude to Jennifer Tyner of Aging Outreach Services of Southern Pines,  the staffs of Elmcroft and Pinehurst Healthcare and Rehabilitation, and the FirstHealth Hospice for their care and support.

Memorial contributions may be made to West End Presbyterian Church, PO Box 13, West End, NC 27376 or to Hospice Foundation of FirstHealth, 150 Applecross Rd., Pinehurst 28374, or to a favorite charity.

Fry & Prickett, of Carthage, is in charge of arrangements.