Vadie Kathryn Fleming Honea, of Hoover, Alabama, passed away peacefully on May 1, 2015, two days short of her 95th birthday. Daughter of Robert James and Love Blanchard Fleming, she was raised in Lincolnton, Georgia in a family of seven brothers and sisters. In 1938 she moved to Atlanta to attend the Southern Business College. Upon completion, she attended Georgia State College where she met Hiram James Honea, a smart, handsome business student. They married in 1942 and had 3 daughters. She instilled in them her sense of commitment, dedication, hard work and helping others. Along with raising the children, she stabilized the home as her husband served in the military, later attended NYU to pursue his Ph.D. degree, and advanced in his career with the Federal Reserve and the Air National Guard. She taught Sunday School for many years, ultimately becoming Superintendent of the SS Department she attended at Decatur First Baptist Church in Decatur Georgia. She worked as assistant to Wheat Williams Insurance in Decatur, Georgia as she invested herself in her family and friends. After her husband, Hiram, was offered the opportunity to serve as Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank, Birmingham Branch, they moved to Alabama. She moved her membership to Green Valley Baptist Church in Hoover, Alabama. They became active members of Green Valley Country Club and were avid golfers for 27 years. She also recognized the need to document the development of her community- Hoover, Alabama - and helped establish the Hoover Historical Society. She was an active participant until 2014. She was a member of Delta Lambda Sigma Sorority, Pen Women of America, and as a member of the Huguenot Society, she toured Europe many times with the Society and her family. She was an accomplished artist with boxes of ribbons from many exhibits including the Hoover, Vestavia and Mountain Brook Art Associations, Pen Women’s and the Bluff Park Art Show. She received numerous awards including the Hoover Rotary Club Service above Self in 1995, and many others. In 2009, she published a well-regarded biography of her Mother, Sowing Seeds of Love.
She was a dedicated and loving spouse, encouraging mother, nurturing grand and great-grand mother and the true matriarch of the family. She was a gracious southern lady and will be sorely missed now that she has returned home.
Mrs. Honea is survived by her brother, James Cluese Fleming and his wife Eloise, of Evans, Georgia, her three daughters: Nancy Blanchard Honea, Atlanta, Georgia; Dr. Patricia Honea-Fleming and her husband Dr Richard J. Borden of Birmingham, Alabama and Bar Harbor, Maine and Dr. Kathryn Honea and her husband Thomas Jung, of Birmingham, Alabama. She leaves six grandchildren: Lisa Cummings and her husband Wade, of Atlanta, Georgia; Kimberly Skelton and her husband Patrick, of Birmingham, Alabama; Kristen Watanabe and her husband Wallace K, of Atlanta, Georgia; Kaelin Tauxe, of Decatur, Georgia, Keenan Tauxe and his wife, Georgina of Birmingham, Alabama, and Elana Golding of Birmingham, Alabama; and six great-grandchildren: Tyler and Lauren Cummings, Gus and Ruby Skelton, and Bailey and Vadie Watanabe.
Pallbearers will be grandsons, grandsons-in-law, and sons-in-law.
Funeral services are scheduled for 2pm on Tuesday, May 5, 2015 at Ridout’s Southern Heritage Funeral Home, with a family graveside following the service. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service (from 1pm until 2pm) at the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Jimmie Hale Mission.
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