Nell Rice

Nell Flack Rice, 100, of Conover, NC, passed away Thursday evening at the home of her daughter, Dr. Pat Rice Whitley, in Salisbury, NC. The family thanks the management and staff of Hospice and Palliative Care Center of 512 Klumac Road in Salisbury for the loving care provided at Ms. Whitley”s home. Mrs. Rice was born on October 27, 1909 in Rutherford County to Elzaja Wellington Flack and Louria A. Koone Flack . She moved to Catawba County, NC, in the early 1930’s where she sought employment in the hosiery and furniture industries. She married James Oscar Rice of Conover, NC, in 1934 and they were married over 50 years when he died in 1986. She served as a seamstress in several upholstered furniture plants and later founded Rice Upholstering Company in Conover with her husband, Oscar. The Rices settled in Conover in the home built in 1872 by James Oscar Rices grandfather, Julius Patrick Cline, the second mayor of Conover, a home still maintained by the family. Mrs. Rice, a member of Concordia Lutheran Church in Conover, was active in the community through the Conover Garden Club and various craft groups as well as the Dorcas Society and Ladies Aid Service of her congregation. She recently attended and was honored at the first Conover City Council meeting of 2010 for becoming a Centenarian, a recognition the city provides long-time citizens who reach 100 years of age. Mrs. Rice was preceded in death by her parents as well as the following siblings: Brothers Paul Edwin Flack of Union Mills, NC and Addie Flack of Orangevale, CA and half-brother Sam Flack of Union Mills, NC. She is survived by a half-sister Alpha Parker of Forest City, NC and half-brother Jason Flack of Union Mills, NC. Also left to cherish her memory are her daughters Dr. Patricia Rice Whitley of Salisbury, NC and Peggy Rice Sherrill and her husband, Mac, of Asheboro, NC and her son, James Oscar Rice, Jr of Conover, NC. She has five grandchildren: Kim Sherrill Reamy Cothran of Moore, SC; Christy Sherrill Joyce of Raleigh, NC; Andy Rice of Newton, NC; Jeff Rice of St. Louis, MO; and Brad Rice of Tulsa, OK. Eight great grandchildren are scattered throughout the country: Meade Reamy of Moore, SC; Brayden Joyce of Raleigh, NC; Drew Rice, Kathryn Rice and Will Rice of Newton, NC; Sarah Rice of St. Louis, MO; Jackson and Ben Rice of Tulsa. Mrs. Rice will be buried in the cemetery at Round Hill Baptist Church in Union Mills, NC. where her mother and father and some siblings are buried. A graveside service with the family attending will be conducted by Pastor Michael O. Kane of Concordia Lutheran Church in Conover, NC at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. A memorial service will be held at Concordia Lutheran Church in Conover at 2:00 o’clock on Monday,, with the family receiving friends at the church at 1:00 p.m. just prior to the service.