billy joe choplin
EAST BEND -
Mr. Billy Joe Choplin, 68, passed away Tuesday, Sept. 5,
2006, at Forsyth Medical Center. He was born June 24, 1938, in Yadkin
County to
Charlie and Sally Smitherman Choplin. Mr. Choplin was retired with 31
years of service from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. He was a faithful
member of
Enon Baptist Church, where he served the church as a deacon, was voted
2005 Man
of the Year, and was most remembered for his years of volunteered time
at the
church, from locking or unlocking the doors, operating the lights or
other
general maintenance. He loved spending time at the beach with all of
his
family, whom he deeply loved; delivered for Meals on Wheels; visited
with the
sick and elderly; and was a bus driver at East Bend Elementary School
for 16 years.
Surviving are his beloved wife of 50 years, Betty Jo Grubbs Choplin of
the
home; four children, Susan (Tom) Helms, Chuck (Teresa) Choplin, Rebecca
(David)
Marcincavage and Daniel (Angie) Choplin; grandchildren, Brooke Choplin,
Zach
and Haley Helms, Lauren and Emily Marcincavage and Ty and Ellie
Choplin; four
sisters, Doris Long-Williams, Gaye (Sanford) Mathis, Brenda (Noland)
Gibson and
Betsy (Jackie) Williams; four brothers, Donald (Ida) Choplin, Bobby
(Helen)
Choplin, David (Shirley) Choplin and Eddie (Teresa) Choplin; and his
special
friends, Eugene McCollum and Earl Campbell. His funeral service will be
conducted at 4 p.m. today, Sept. 9, at Enon Baptist Church, with the
Rev. Mark
Elmore officiating. Mr. Choplin will be placed in the church 30 minutes
before
the service. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. The family will
receive
friends in the church reception hall from 5 to 7 p.m. today, Sept. 9,
immediately after the service. Mr. Choplin may be viewed prior to the
service
today at Gentry Family Funeral Service in Yadkinville. In lieu of
flowers, memorials may be made to Enon Baptist Church Building Fund or
Children's Ministry, Old U.S. 421 Highway West, East Bend, NC 27018;
Yadkin
Christian Ministries, P.O. Box 76, Yadkinville, NC 27055; or to a
charity of
the donor's choice. Gentry Family Funeral Service of Yadkinville is
serving the Choplin family.