Obituary of Opal Fleetwood

It is not possible to sum up on one page the life of Opal Fleetwood who lived 98 years, 4 months, and 6 days. She was born Hattie Opal Faye Simon on October 26, 1910 and lived a very full and fruitful life. She Married Marion Fleetwood in 1929 and raised five children: Paul (Bob) Fleetwood, Billy Fleetwood, Kenneth Fleetwood, Jenny (Fleetwood) Starkey, and Jimmy Fleetwood. She had 12 grandchildren, 23 great grandchildren and 5 great great grandchildren. Opal loved her family and extended family and enjoyed dining, visiting, and playing together. She loved to garden, fish, and play card games. High Five was her all time favorite game. She loved to talk about the old days with her mom and dad and brothers and sisters when they lived in Fern Nook on the farm by the Little Black River. She liked to remember the trips she went on to Hawaii, Nova Scotia, Colorado, and New Mexico and Lake of the Ozarks where fishing was good but fun with daughter's-in-law Shirley, Wanda, and Ann was even better. "Mom" or the "Little General" as she was affectionately known had an amazing memory right up until she died. She didn't need a calendar to remember her kids, grandkids, and great grandkids birthdays because the dates were all in her head. Just recently she repeated the entire preamble to the constitution which she had learned in Grade school. She always had a birthday card with a dollar in it for her grandkids: Mike, Tandy, Terry, Joseph, Sandy, Kelly, Laurie, Ricky, Kenneth, Becky, Scott, and Stacy. She always wrote in the card "remember old granny loves you". Her favorite work was gardening. She loved and tended every little shoot and fought the bugs like a warrior. Oh! How she loved her fresh vegetables and the whole family loved to eat them. She had a green thumb and her house was always full of plants and flowers. Opal was a believing Christian. She kept her well worn Bible next to her on the couch and read from it daily. She trusted the Lord for eternal life and spoke gratefully of it shortly before she died. In the flesh she will be missed terribly but in the spirit she will always be with us. Praise the Lord for giving her to us all, family and friends, for such a long time. Mrs. Fleetwood was preceded in death by her parents John J. & Hattie (Chappell) Simon, 2 brothers and 2 sisters. Visitation will be Monday March 9 from noon to two pm at Edwards Funeral Home with services at 2 PM at the funeral home. Bro. Kent Harding and Bro. John Harwell will be officiating. Interment at Elizabeth Cemetery.