Emma Jean Bryant McKinney

Reidsville – Emma Jean Bryant McKinney, 75, of 561 Woolen Store Road, passed away peacefully, Thursday, July 1, 2010 at the Hospice Home of Rockingham County.Funeral services will be held 2:00 PM Saturday, July 3, 2010 at Sharon Baptist Church, 3540 Iron Works Road, with Rev. Tom Brown officiating. The burial will follow in the church cemetery. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service from 1:00 – 2:00 PM at the church. They will also receive friends at home during other times.Mrs. McKinney was born in Bakersville, NC and was the daughter of the late E. M. “Eb” and Annie Mae Griffith Bryant. As a child, she lived in the Red Hill Community and grew up as a member of the Pleasant Grove Church of the Brethren in Bakersville. There, she established her standard for faith and family. She was a loving wife, mother, sister, grandmother and friend. She was a member of Sharon Baptist Church. Mrs. McKinney was passionate about her family and loved working together with her husband in the garden and volunteering wherever ministry was needed. Her enduring, gentle faith was the sustaining grace that carried her through the last couple of years after the diagnosis of cancer. She walked through her illness with a calm strength and a courageous spirit that encouraged and inspired her family and friends.Mrs. McKinney is survived by her husband, Ralph Everette McKinney of the home; her children, Patricia McKinney Wright and husband, Steve of Reidsville, David Wayne McKinney and wife, Arla of Clover, SC and Matthew Dean McKinney and wife, Tangela of Walkertown, NC; her grandchildren, Adam, Shannon, Lauren, Casey, Candace and Lindsey; her great grandson, Noah and her sister, Mary Bryant Cate of Marion, NC.Memorial contributions may be made to the Hospice Home of Rockingham County, PO Box 281 Wentworth, NC 27375.The family would like to express their sincere appreciation for the loving and sensitive care provided to Jean by hospital professionals, Hospice, church family and friends.