SUSAN ANNETTE STONE HERRING
AAFA #0334
1945 NC – 2006 NC
NEWS & OBSERVER
Raleigh, Wake Co., NC—31 August 2006
ELIZABETH CITY—Susan Stone Herring, beloved wife, mother,
and grandmother died on Monday, August 28, 2006 after a long and courageous
battle with breast cancer. Never one to shy away from a challenge, she faced
her illness with a courage, grace and poise that was beyond extraordinary.
Susan was born February 15, 1945 to Nellie Waldo
Adams Stone and the late Edward C. Stone, Jr. in Durham, NC. After graduating
from Durham High School in 1963, she attended and graduated from East Carolina
University in 1967. It was while she was at East Carolina that she met the love
of her life, her husband of thirty nine years, Charles Michael Herring. After
their marriage on September 23, 1967, they moved to Elizabeth City to pursue
their careers and raise their family.
Upon arriving in Elizabeth City, Susan began
teaching in the Elizabeth City Pasquotank County School System. She spent many
years in the EMH/TMH classroom working with handicapped students. Susan then
switched to the academically gifted programs in multiple schools in the district.
In was in this area that she truly excelled. She was as gifted and talented as
the students she so joyously taught. It brought her pleasure to know she
touched a student’s life and there were many through the years that have told
her how much she meant to them. One of her greatest strengths was getting the
best out of all students, no matter their abilities. Even if a child was not in
her classroom, they knew they could always visit “Mrs. Herring’s Room”. She had
an innate ability to reach all students that was almost magical. One of her
most personally satisfying professional accomplishments was achieving her
National Board Certification in 1998.
After 32 years of dedicated service to the
public schools, she retired from teaching kids and began sharing her vast
knowledge with teachers around the states of NC, VA and TN. Susan spent five
years tirelessly traveling and spreading her love of teaching. Her work with
The Centers for Quality Teaching and Learning allowed her to touch hundreds of
teachers and those teachers will continue to share her love of learning with
their students for many years to come. Those teachers whose lives she touched
will be forever blessed because of their relationship with Susan.
Although Susan dearly loved her professional
life, her true center was her family. She was constantly talking about her
husband, children and grandchildren to everyone she met. She would go anywhere,
anytime to see her son Jon compete in a truck pull or watch her grandchildren,
Steven and BethAnne ride in a horse show. No matter how poorly she may have
felt, she was always able to play with her Tater, little Logan. She took
immense pride in all her family’s accomplishments and will still be rooting for
them among the angels.
Susan is survived by her husband, Mike; her
mother, Waldo Stone; her daughter and son-in-law, Michaelle and Nicky Overman,
their children, Steven, BethAnne and Logan; her son and daughter-in-law, Jon
and Shelly Herring all of Elizabeth City. She is also survived by her brother Frank
Stone and his special friend Wanda Halsey of Southern Shores, NC; sister-in-law
Sybil Stone of Norfolk, Va.; brothers-in-law Roy and Thelma Herring, Mel and
Vivian Herring both of Whiteville, NC, Stevie and Jennifer Herring of Santa
Maria, CA and sister-in-law Karen and Ron Bauman of Wisconsin. She also has
many nieces and nephews that she dearly loved.
She was predeceased by her father, Edward C.
Stone, Jr.; her bother Edward C. Stone III and her nephew Allen Stone.
A memorial service to celebrate Susan's life
will be held Sunday, September 3, 2006, 3:00 p.m. at First United Methodist
Church on Road St. in Elizabeth City with the Rev. Charles McKenzie, Rev. Mike
Frese and Rev. Toni Wood officiating. The family will receive visitors
immediately following the service in the Asbury Room of the church and at other
times at the home.
In lieu of flowers the family requests memorial
contributions be made to the American Cancer Society, 404 Jessup Street,
Elizabeth City, NC 27909.
Twiford Funeral Home, 405 E. Church Street, Elizabeth City,
NC is assisting the Herring Family. To sign the online guest register please
visit www.twifordfh.com
AAFA
NOTES: SSDI records confirm the birth and death dates of Susan A.
Herring (SS# issued in NC), last residence not listed.
Susan and her mother, Waldo Stone, attended the
1990 meeting in Raleigh, where she and then-AAFA President Lodwick Alford had a
spirited discussion about their shared lineage.
Her Alford lineage, starting with her maternal
grandmother: Nellie Mae 1885 NC3, William Dallas 1845 NC4,
William R. 1818 NC5, Green 1787 NC6.
