Bessie Mae Hanes (3-22-12)

NICHOLSON - Bessie Mae Hanes, 83, previously of Stone Mountain, went to heaven on Thursday, March 22, 2012 at her residence.

She was born in Bremen, Ky., the daughter of the late Onice and Opal Clark Wilkins. She was a homemaker and a member of Mt. Olive Baptist Church. She married Fred Hanes on June 13, 1948 in Evansville, Ind.

She was a wonderful woman who loved God and cherished her family. She was a true friend to many and will be remembered for her generous acts of kindness. She was a member of the Commerce Garden Club for years and won the Beauty Spot award. She inherited her love of nature from her father and most notable in her garden is the bed of old fashioned pink roses originally grown by her parents and transplanted from home to home through the years.

She will be remembered for being a loving wife, mother, daughter, sister, mamaw, great-mamaw, and most importantly a strong woman of God. Today we celebrate her life and have peace knowing she is Home where she belongs.

Mrs. Hanes is survived by her husband, Fred Thomas Hanes, Nicholson; daughter, Diane Hanes, Port Monmouth, N.J.; son and daughter-in-law, Dr. Phillip Hanes and Mary Hanes, Tampa, Fla.; daughter and son-in-law, Patty and Perry Phillips, Flowery Branch; brother, Rev. Calvin Wilkins, Benton, Ky.; grandchildren, Christopher Hanes, Ocala, Fla., Ashley Hagin and husband, Adam, Oakwood, Jennifer Hanes, Apopka, Fla., Michael Hanes, San Francisco, Calif., and Cooper Phillips, Flowery Branch; great-grandchildren, Caroline Hanes and Copeland Hagin.

Funeral services will be held Monday, March 26, at 11 a.m. from the chapel of Little-Ward Funeral Home with the Revs. Derry Oliver, Verlin Reece, Dr. Phillip Hanes, and the Rev. Calvin Wilkins officiating with the interment following at Jackson Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends at the funeral home Saturday night, March 24 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Little-Ward Funeral Home, Commerce, is in charge of arrangements.