Jean Bankhead began her new life on Sunday morning, December 27, 2015, and now we are three grown men made little boys (even Daddy called her Mama). We and our families were all around her when she went away from us, and we were hollowed out in the passing of the one last breath. Jean was born a Davis, and as she liked to say, during the Depression so she learned to do without. But she never lived without love. She loved her mama and daddy always, and her brothers (Walter, John Ed, and Billy Davis) and sisters (Faith Adams, Annie Lewis, and Frances Bryce). As a young girl, she met and loved John Bankhead. That love never faltered, for over 70 years. Then she loved me (Stewart) and my brother, Scott, her little boys, and, later on, our families (Gracie, Anna Grace, and Will, and Stuart Cantrell, her granddogs, and grandcats, too). She got love and a lot of help from her nieces and cousins. She taught Daddy, Scott, and me, who may to this day struggle with expressing it, how to love steadfastly and cherish family fiercely. Mama was the mainstay of our family. She raised two unruly young'uns, cleaned house, and worked an outside job too, becoming the first female supervisor at Esther Mill. We could always count on her for anything and everything. Jean was a woman who grew up in the church and saw to it that we did, as well, and that we did so with with new Sunday clothes every Easter and Fall. We were, and still are, a family held together by Jean Bankhead. She traveled the world over but never lost her connection to Shelby, NC, and Cleveland County, or her accent. That closeness to her home gained her a slew of friends for a lifetime, and with those friends, she square-danced, played Rook, went camping, held cookouts, visited, raised gardens and kids, sent us to college, paid off the mortgage, loved her grand kids, and lived a full life. And we did too. Mama's up in heaven now square-dancing and playing Rook, and we know she's watching over us still and preparing the way. We love you, Mama.

Funeral service will be held on Wednesday December 30, 2015 at 11:00 am in the sanctuary of First Baptist Church with Rev. Tony Tench officiating. Burial will be at Sunset Cemetery. The family will receive friends following the service in the sanctuary.

Memorials can be made to : First Baptist Church, 120 N. Lafayette Street, Shelby NC 28150 or Hospice Cleveland County, 951 Wendover Heights Drive, Shelby NC 28150.

Cecil M Burton Funeral Home and Crematory is serving the family of Mrs. Bankhead

Guest Registry is available at www.cecilmburtonfuneralhome.com