Rheba Ballard Drye

Rheba B. Drye, 72, returned Home to her Heavenly Father on Saturday, March 26, 2016 at a local hospital. A service of praise to the Father and gratitude for her life will be held at 2:00 p.m., Thursday at Harvest Cathedral Church with burial in Macon Memorial Park Cemetery. The Rev. Steve Sawyer, the Rev. Tim Fountain and Dr. Ron Cottle will officiate. The family will meet friends from 1:00 p.m. to service time on Thursday at the church.

Mrs. Drye, a native of Mount Holly, NC, was the daughter of the late Omer and Nadine Painter Smith Ballard and attended East Carolina University. She married Sam Drye in 1968 and moved to Macon in 1977 to support her husband’s ministry. Mrs. Drye fulfilled many roles, not the least of which was teaching, where she had a gift for not only imparting knowledge, but wisdom. A consummate mother, she embodied compassion, selflessness, and generosity with her biological children and her spiritual children. Alongside Sam, they nurtured and fostered a burgeoning church in Harvest Cathedral, which among other capacities, became a beacon in Macon, Georgia, challenging racial divides and welcoming everyone. Rheba also ministered in the areas of counseling, inner healing, and marriage and family restoration. She always enjoyed traveling and missionary work teaching and sharing God’s love. She also enjoyed chronicling life in textile mills of North Carolina.

Mrs. Drye was preceded in death by her two daughters, Julie Drye and Jennifer McCallum.

She is survived by her beloved family, her husband of forty-seven years, Dr. Samuel T. Drye; her son, Jeffrey (Brianne Yancy) Drye; her sisters, Phyllis (Edwin) Warnock and Dolores (Ron) Gill; her brothers, David (Sara) Ballard, Reggie Ballard and Jimmy Ballard; her son-in-law, Wade McCallum and her granddaughter, Julianna McCallum.

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Snow’s Memorial Chapel, Pio Nono Avenue has charge of arrangements.