Robert H. Raiford, Jr.

November 21, 2014

Robert Hudson “Bob” Raiford, Jr., 93, passed away November 21, 2014 at his daughter’s home in Courtland. He was a native of Burdette in Southampton County, the son of the late Robert Hudson and Lizzie Bradshaw Raiford.

Bob was predeceased by his wife of 60 years, Rose King Raiford, who passed away Jan. 12, 2007, and two sisters, Lora Raiford Horne and Eunice Raiford Parker.

He was a longtime resident of Holland and a member of Holland Baptist Church, where he was a former deacon. Bob was a U.S. Merchant Marines veteran, having served aboard oceangoing merchant ships in service to the United States during WWII. He was honorably discharged from the U.S. Coast Guard on March 4, 1946. He was retired from Union Camp Corporation after 38 years of service and was a member of Franklin Masonic Lodge No. 151 AF&AM.

Bob was a 40-plus-year member of AA and helped start two programs, one at Southampton Memorial Hospital and one in Holland (Father Bob). He was a former board member for New Outlook in Franklin.

Left to cherish his memory are his three daughters, Patricia Raiford Hundley and her husband, Rusty, of Suffolk, Kaye Raiford Drake and her husband, Timmy, of Courtland and Kathy Raiford Franklin and her husband, Shawn, of Courtland; one sister, Evelyn Raiford Britt Tarkington of Windsor, N.C.; six grandchildren, Adrienne Hundley Hoffman (Tom), Matthew Hundley (Cynthia), Susan Hundley (Anson), Haley Drake, Hudson Gavin (Ashley) and Barbara Gavin; and three great-grandchildren, Noah and Clara Hoffman and Holton Gavin.

A funeral will be held at 2 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014, at Wright Funeral Home, Franklin, with the Rev. Darwin Edwards and Chaplain Delorestne Ward officiating. Burial with Military Honors will follow at Southampton Memorial Park.

The family will receive friends Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home and suggest memorials be made to the Charcot-Marie-Tooth Association (CMTA), P.O. Box 105, Glenolden, PA 19036 or to the Multiple Sclerosis Society, 4200 Innslake Drive, Suite 301, Glen Allen, VA 23060.

The family would like to thank Billie Jo Boyles-Maples, for her love and care and to thank Care Advantage and all of its employees for their complete care.

A very special heartfelt thanks to Judy Matthews Hachey (his beloved fourth adopted daughter) for her steadfast love, loyalty and devotion, and John P. Harrison for his brotherly devotion.

Condolences can be registered at www.wrightfuneralhome.org.