Funeral Services will be held Tuesday, March 13, for Eudean Knox who died last week in an automobile accident. Visitation begins at noon at Torrence Chapel AME Zion Church on Torrence Chapel Road. The funeral will be at 1 pm with Rev. Ellison Bowman officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery.

The ​beloved ​community leader​ ​was​ a deaconess at Torrence Chapel AME Church. ​The widow of Monroe Knox, another beloved presence in the Smithville community, leaves three children, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.​ She was ​81.

For decades, she was known for the meals she would prepare for large gatherings, at homes, churches and at Town Hall.​ Her warmth and generosity were legendary; she would make sure to invite friends, black and white alike, to church dinners at Torrence Chapel.

Eudean, 81, co-founded the Cornelius After School Reading Program with former Cornelius Mayor Nannie Potts. She worked for the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections for more than 50 years, and was a fixture at Precinct 202 at Town Hall during every election.

She was also instrumental in merging Smithville with Cornelius, when the historically black community was on the edge of town, said Cornelius Commissioner Thurman Ross. She was a cheerful and warm fixture at community events. Known by friends as “Dean,” she attended the Black History Month observances at Town Hall Feb. 24 at Town Hall.

“She will be greatly missed,” Ross said, explaining that she was a decades-long presence in the community. Ms. Knox was a retired scheduler at the old Reeves Bros. plant, now Foamex, in Cornelius.

Rev. Ellison Bowman, pastor of Torrence Chapel AME Zion, said Dean “was a sweet lady.  She was a very lovable person. The type of person you thank God for allowing your paths to cross.”

“Not only is her death a great loss to her family and the Torrence Chapel Church family, it is a great loss to the entire community.  Her last words to me were encouraging me to take care of myself. That was Eudean Knox, always concerned about someone else. On today God saw fit to add another Angel to the Heavenly choir,” Bowman said.

Television personality Tonya Rivens said Ms. Knox was highly respected and was considered a mother of the entire neighborhood. “She had a genuine love for all of the children of the Smithville community and celebrated our achievements as if we were all one of her children,” Rivens said.

W.H. Bryant, A.E Grier & Sons of Mooresville is serving the Knox family.