Margaret Hodges Womick

Margaret Elizabeth Hodges Womick, 94, of Asheboro died peacefully at the Randolph Hospice House in Asheboro on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11, at First United Methodist Church in Asheboro, of which she was a longtime member. Visitation will follow the service in the church parlor. Margaret (also known as Mom, Sweet Pea, Grammy and Aunt Margaret) was a practitioner of good manners and unconditional love, a role model and a mentor to people of all ages, and the chief cheerleader for her family and friends. She could organize a board meeting, plan a wedding, or throw a neighborhood ice cream social with equal ease and skill. She loved family gatherings, whether a sumptuous holiday spread around the dining room table or a simple mid-week supper on the screened back porch. She was devoted to family, especially to Worth, her husband of 72 years, who died on Nov. 20, 2012. Her three brothers, Clifford, Ted and Howard Hodges, and two sisters, Lucille Graham and Betty Sue Campbell, also preceded her in death. The words "You're special" fell from her lips as often as the words "I love you." For decades, she dispensed notes of encouragement typed on slips of paper to friends, family and co-workers, until, when she was nearly 80, she embraced the new-age form of communication and began sending them via email. Survivors include sons, Wellington Worth (Chip) Womick III and his wife, Sharon, of Ramseur; Timothy Hodges (Tim) Womick of Cashiers; two granddaughters she loved dearly, Callista Rae Womick of Boston and Maia Selene Womick, of Ramseur; sisters-in-law, Frances Cobb of Forest City and Rubye Hodges of Charlotte; brother-in-law, Grady Womick of Forest City; and numerous nieces and nephews. Womick, who grew up in Rutherford County, was born Jan. 15, 1922, in Barnard, N.C., the oldest daughter of Clifford and Addie Hodges. She and her high school sweetheart, Wellington Worth Womick Jr., eloped on Sept. 28, 1940, not long after their graduation from Tri High School in Avondale, N.C. They were both 18 when they tied the knot in the home of probate judge Roy Cobb in Gaffney, S.C. A graduate of the Nancy Taylor Charm and Modeling School, the Speedwriting Shorthand Institute, and Selenia Commercial College, she taught shorthand, typing and personal development at Womick-Selenia Commercial College in Lumberton, N.C. Later, in Asheboro, she worked as an office manager for Farmers Home Administration and retired from Balfour Elementary School as secretary/treasurer. In the 1960s, Womick wrote a weekly newspaper column for women in The Lumberton Post. In the 1970s, she presented a daily radio program for women on WTSB in Lumberton. In 1993, she was selected as the Secretary of the Year by the Asheboro/Randolph Chamber of Commerce. She was a member of the National Association of Educational Office Professionals and the North Carolina Association of Educational Office Professionals and served on the NCAEOP board for two terms; she was also a member of the NCAEOP District 7 board of directors and served as its president. She was a member of the Asheboro Association of Educational Office Professionals and served as its first president after the organization was re-established at Asheboro City Schools in 1988. For more than a decade she was a member of the Asheboro Planning Board, served as vice chairman of the board and as a member of the Asheboro Board of Adjustment. She was on the board of directors for both the Lumberton Community Concert Association and the Randolph Community Concert Association and was a past member of the greeting committee, the staff/parish relations committee, and the altar guild and formerly served as wedding director for her church. Memorials may be made to the Margaret Womick Educational Office Professionals (EOP) Scholarship, in care of Faye McLeod, North Asheboro Middle School, 1861 N. Asheboro School Road, Asheboro, NC 27203, or to First United Methodist Church, 224 N. Fayetteville St., Asheboro, NC 27203. The family thanks the wonderful staff in the Alzheimer's Care Center at the Cross Road Retirement Community in Asheboro for the tender, loving care given to Margaret in the last two years, and to Virginia Stines, Robin Seabrease and Cheryl Cheney for helping care for her at home before that. Extra special appreciation -- more than words can say -- goes to the earth angels at the Randolph Hospice House in Asheboro for the professional and compassionate care Margaret received during her final days. In lieu of flowers -- and this wish comes from Margaret -- call your parents or loved ones and tell them you love them. Arrangements are by Pugh Funeral Home, Asheboro.