Notes
Note N6359
Index
North Carolina Deaths and Burials, 1898-1994
Name: Ethel Verta West Event Date: 25 Feb 1933 Event Place: North Carolina Address: 2824 Glen Ave. Residence Place: Winston-Salem, Forsyth, North Carolina Age: 24 Occupation: Textile Worker
Birth Date: 30 Dec 1908 Birthplace: Surry County, N.C. Death Date: 23 Feb 1933 Death Place: Winston-Salem, Forsyth, North Carolina Cemetery: Forsyth Mem. Park
Father's Name: Lee Needham Father's Birthplace: N.C. Mother's Name: Ada Carrie Welsh Mother's Birthplace: N.C. Spouse's Name: Wade West
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Ethel Verta Needham West BIRTH 30 Dec 1908 Surry County, North Carolina DEATH 23 Feb 1933 (aged 24) Forsyth County, North Carolina BURIAL Forsyth Memorial Park Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina
MEMORIAL ID 117790463
Parents Solomon Lee Needham 1883-1933 Ada Carrie Welch Needham 1883-1965
Spouse Wade M. West 1907-1977
Siblings
Coy Raymond Needham 1907-1987
Ernest W. Needham 1910-1911
Rufus William Needham 1911-2002
Diamond Millard Needham 1912-1976
Howard F. Needham 1914-1914
Clyde William Needham 1915-1916
Fred Lee Needham 1923-1923
Notes
Note N6360
Index
North Carolina, Center for Health Statistics, Vital Records Unit, County Birth Records, 1913-1922
Name: John Foster West Event Type: Birth Event Date: 10 Dec 1918 Event Place: Ready Branch, Wilkes, North Carolina
Father's Name: John Wilson West Father's Birthplace: Wilkes, N. C. Father's Age: 51 Father's Birth Year (Estimated): 1867
Mother's Name: Annie Elvira Foster Mother's Birthplace: Wilkes, N. C. Mother's Age: 30 Mother's Birth Year (Estimated): 1888 Certificate Number: 525
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United States Census, 1940
Name: John F West Event Place: Ward 8, Asheville, Asheville Township, Buncombe, North Carolina Last Place of Residence: Morganton, Burke, North Carolina Age: 21 Birth Year (Estimated): 1919
Birthplace: North Carolina
Role Sex Age Birthplace
William Ray Griffin Head Male 58 North Carolina
Edity V Griffin Wife Female 49 Maryland
William R Griffin Son Male 19 North Carolina
Virginia Griffin Daughter Female 18 North Carolina
Robert A Griffin Son Male 16 North Carolina
Louise R Griffin Superintendant Female 54 Iowa
Mary Lee Willard Nurse Female 30 South Carolina
Coree Putnam Nurse Female 40 South Carolina
Roland R Johnson Attendant Male 49 South Carolina
Elma C Parham Nurse Female 30 North Carolina
Edgar C Webb Attendant Male 26 Georgia
Sarah Mccullough Nurse Female 24 South Carolina
Sam H Jordon Attendant Male 23 North Carolina
Frank W Ray Attendant Male 31 North Carolina
Dora K Martin Nurse Female 55 North Carolina
Lois Knight Nurse Female 22 South Carolina
Orpha B Wells Housekeeper Female 51 Illinois
Lila Burris Nurse Female 22 South Carolina
Bertha Penland Hostess Female 47 North Carolina
Arthur J Riddle Patient Female 45 South Carolina
Imo Steinman Bookkeeper Female 41 Ohio
Mary Dell Hanks Nurse Female 23 South Carolina
Elizabeth S Kimball Receptionist Female 44 Maryland
Lucile Mercer Secretary Female 40 Georgia
Harriet C Presley Patient Female 64 New Jersey
John F West Attendant Male 21 North Carolina
Dorothy Winstead Nurse Female 20 North Carolina
Eunice W White Patient Female 46 South Carolina
Florence Campbell Nurse Female 20 South Carolina
Hazel Branch Nurse Female 23 North Carolina
Virginia Pryor Nurse Female 20 North Carolina
J Richard Crozier Physical director Female 50 Indiana
Etta Crozier Lodger Female 50 Indiana
Franklyn Winstead Nurse Female 28 North Carolina
Annie K Webb Nurse Female 28 Georgia
Carmelata Crook Nurse Female 33 North Carolina
Ruth Burlingame Nurse Female 21 Ohio
Lila Eskew Nurse Female 19 South Carolina
Ruia Bailey Nurse Female 23 North Carolina
Jasper Merl Brown Attendant Male 25 Kentucky
Sarah Knight Nurse Female 28 South Carolina
Lawrence C Plemmons Attendant Male 60 North Carolina
Virginia, Marriage Certificates, 1936-1988
Name: John Foster West Event Date: 15 Dec 1968 Event Place: Virginia Beach, , Virginia Age: 49 Birth Date: 10 Dec 1918 Marriage License Place: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Father's Name: John W West Mother's Name: Elvira Foster Spouse's Name: Nancy Goodman Harrell Spouse's Age: 34 Spouse's Birth Date: 31 Mar 1934
Spouse's Father's Name: Joseph Mayo Goodman Spouse's Mother's Name: Mary Barker Certificate Number: 68048895 Affiliate Image Identifier: 43068_162028006073_0641-00397.j2k
United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014
Name: Professor John Foster West Event Date: 07 May 2008 Event Place: North Carolina Residence Place: High Point, North Carolina Residence Date 02 May 2008 Age: 89
Birth Year (Estimated): 1919 Death Date: 02 May 2008 Newspaper: Greensboro News & Record
Spouse and Children
Nan Elizabeth Love Wife
Betsy West Of Daughter
Leah Killingsworth Daughter
John K West Of Son
Parents and Siblings
Leonard Brother
Arnold Brother
James Brother
Ted Brother
Vernice Arms Sister
Verlee Crump Sister
Orene Burrell Sister
Extended Family
Ted Killingsworth Son-In-Law
Karma Granddaughter
Ethan Grandson
Others on Record
John Wilkes West Unknown
Elvira Foster West Unknown
Bruce Roberts Unknown
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John Foster West BIRTH 10 Dec 1918 DEATH 2 May 2008 (aged 89) BURIAL Mountlawn Memorial Park and Gardens Boone, Watauga County, North Carolina MEMORIAL ID 27176917
Parents John Wilson West 1867-1946 Fannie Elvira Foster West 1888-1962
Spouse Nan Love West 1923-1966
Siblings
Leonard West 1908-1985
Vernice Viola West Armes 1911-1976
Verlee West Crump 1913-1991
Orene West Burrell 1916-1985
Half Siblings
James Vestal West 1885-1944
Millard M West 1906-1979
John Foster, as he preferred to be called, was born December 10, 1918, in Wilkes County, N.C., to John Wilkes and Elvira Foster West during the flu epidemic of that year. John attended Mars Hill College in 1941, where he met his future wife, Nan Elizabeth Love. He joined the Army Air Corps in 1943, where he learned to fly and when the war ended, taught airplane mechanics until he was honorably discharged in 1945. He graduated with a BA in English from UNC, Chapel Hill in 1947 and a MA in 1949. As an undergraduate, he was involved in establishing the "Carolina Quarterly," a literary journal still in existence today. He also did doctoral work in English and Journalism at Chapel Hill and the University of Iowa.
He taught English and creative writing for 42 years at three different colleges. He was at Elon College, N.C., from 1949 to 1958, Old Dominion College in Norfolk, Va., from 1958 to 1968 and, in 1968, Appalachian State University (ASU) to when he retired, professor emeritus, in January, 1991. At ASU, along with teaching, he was writer- and-poet-in-residence and mentored hundreds of aspiring writers and poets throughout the years. After retiring, he traveled extensively to Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
John will be remembered most as a North Carolina writer, poet, historian and activist for the preservation and ecology of his beloved mountains. His first published book of poetry "Up Ego" was written while he was teaching at Elon College in 1951. In 1965, John received wide acclaim for his first novel, "Time Was." Published by Random House, the publishers submitted his novel to be considered for a Pulitzer Prize. Other books were: "Appalachian Dawn," 1973 a sequel to "Time Was," the "Ballad of Tom Dula," 1990 and the Appalachian Consortium's Appalachian Fiction Award, "The Summer People" in 1989. In addition to varied contributions to magazines and other periodicals, books of poetry include: "This Proud Land," photography by Bruce Roberts, "Wry Wine" and "High Noon at Pompeii."
John received many awards and acknowledgements during his prolific career. He has appeared in "Who's Who in the South and Southwest," "Who's Who Among American Scholars," "Contemporary Authors" and the "Dictionary of International Biography." He was past president of the NC Writers Conference, NC Folklore Society and Sigma Delta Chi, the professional journalism fraternity.
John Foster West was a fascinating, eccentric, brilliant, caring, introspective man and he will be missed by all who knew and loved him.
In addition to his parents, John was preceded in death by his wife, Nan, who died in 1966; his brothers, Leonard, Arnold, James and Ted; his sisters, Vernice Arms, Verlee Crump and Orene Burrell.
