SPRUCE PINE, N.C.—Waites Avery Buchanan, age 91 of Spruce Pine passed away on Thursday morning August 26, 2021, peacefully at home surrounded by his loving family after a long illness.
Avery was born in Mitchell County on February 6th, 1930. He was a son of the late Clayton J. Buchanan and Annie Ledford Buchanan Smith.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his stepfather Will Smith, brothers; Glenn, Millard and Hayden Buchanan and sisters, Louise Blankenship, Veda Kaylor, Deloris Thomas, Georgia Turner and Dorothy Ann Buchanan.
Left to cherish his memories are his wife of 68 years Margaret McGee Buchanan of the home, daughters, Ava Hollifield (Ken) of Spruce Pine and Sherry Ollis (David) of Winnabow, NC. Grandchildren, Damien Hollifield (Amanda), and Matt Hollifield (Kayla) of Spruce Pine, Kelly Stegall (Justin) of Winnabow, NC and Michelle Moore (Quisto) of Leland, NC. Great grandchildren Chloe Hollifield of Wilmington, NC, Keiland, Keslyn and Karter Hollifield of Spruce Pine, Jordan, Avery Ann and Elliot Stegall of Winnabow, NC and Knox Lee Moore of Leland, NC. Step grandchildren Kim Hollifield O’Day (Steve) of Cumming, GA and Brett Hollifield of Wake Forest, NC.
Step great grandchildren Caitlin, Cami and Brooke O’Day and Dylan, Alex and Sydney Hollifield. He is also survived by his brothers Bill Buchanan (Becky) of Granite Falls, NC, Wade Buchanan (Brenda) of Connelly Springs, NC, Richard Smith (Debra) of Hildebran, NC and Edward Smith of Charlotte, NC; sister; June Lowman of Hickory, NC and many nieces and nephews.
Avery was born and raised in Spruce Pine. He was an Army Veteran during the Korean War period.
He owned and operated Avery’s Market for many years prior to working for the USPS. He retired from the postal service after 30 years. He was a member of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church and served many terms as a deacon, a Sunday school teacher and custodian. He was also choir director for years and loved directing and singing.
When Avery wasn’t working or serving at Mt. Carmel, he as gardening, hunting or fishing.
He also loved working in honeybees. His children and grandchildren admired his work ethic but mostly they admired his love for God.
Funeral services for Mr. Buchanan were conducted at 2:00 pm Sunday August 29th at Mt. Carmel Baptist Church with the Revs. Toby Crowder and Don Ford officiating.
The family received friends from 1:00 until the service hour at the church. Interment will follow in the Mt. Carmel Baptist Church Cemetery.
Words of comfort may be e-mailed to the family by going to our website; www.webbfh.com.,selecting Avery Buchanan’s name and then you may sign his guestbook. Webb Funeral Home in Spruce Pine, NC is assisting the Buchanan family. Mr. Buchanan’s obituary has also been posted on Facebook for viewing.