Rosa (Rose) Hearne Dickens
March 25, 1931 – April 6, 2024
At home surrounded by family, Rosa (Rose) Hearne Dickens of Lake Gaston passed away peacefully on April 6, 2024.
“Rosa Mae Hearne (Dickens) is as sweet as the icing on Mama’s homemade cakes,” so reads the Junior Poem in her high school yearbook.
The older of two girls, Rose was born and raised in Enfield, NC, graduating from Enfield High School in 1949.
Her sweetness attracted the attention of one Winford Dickens, the love of her life, who she married after graduation.
Moving to Halifax, she worked with the Halifax County Health Department and attended business classes at night before joining Winford in the grocery store business.
Together they grew Dickens SuperMarket, raised three daughters, and started a laundry business, all the while being active in Halifax Baptist Church and involved in various community organizations and activities.
As they approached retirement, they made the move “just up the road” to Lake Gaston where Rose quickly made friends and immersed herself in the community and Calvary Methodist Church, becoming a faithful and active member until her final days.
The very essence of her being was her faith and love of family, fellowship, and food.
She found no greater joy than gathering with family and/or friends for a meal and would spend countless hours cooking and baking everyone’s favorite dishes.
An always popular request was her fried chicken, and over the years she became known for her cherry cobbler and six-layer chocolate cake, a recipe she got from her sister-in-law, Hortense Dickens.
Passing on her traditions in more recent years, she delighted in teaching her great-grandchildren how to make her much loved cookie dessert.
If there is one truth in life, it is that no one went hungry at Rose’s house.
A love of music and singing began in her high school glee club and she shared that love throughout the years singing in her church choirs as well as with the Lake Gaston Gastonettes. She could always be heard humming around the house, and when asked once why she hummed so much, she replied, “Because it keeps my mind off things I don’t need to be thinking about.”
Never without a smile, she simply loved people and the joy and fellowship that came from caring for others.
As her nephew, Jeff Dickens, so eloquently wrote, “Lovely, gracious, kind, and caring to those she knew and loved but also to anyone who happened across her path.”
This included not only the people in her life, but also the animals she encountered, giving loving homes to many stray cats and dogs over the years.
Even on her phone answering message, she was always encouraging others, ending with “Smile. It will make you feel better … and make others wonder what you’re up to.”
Rose is preceded in death by her husband of 71 years, Winford Dickens, and her parents, Andrew Jackson Hearne, Jr. and Mary Helen Harrell Hearne.
She is survived by daughters Sherry (Martin) O’Dowd, Kim Cochrane, and Kelly Dickens; grandchildren, Patrick (Emily Lago) O’Dowd, Daniel O’Dowd (Rachel Scanlon), Clare (Rafael Ortiz) O’Dowd, Ashley (Greg) Bair-Caruso, Courtney (Andrew) Moore, and Wesley Cochrane (Heather Hanks); great-grandchildren, Abigail Grace Ciriaco, Charis Rose Moore, Penelope Angela Moore, Milo Winford Moore, Rafael Nicolas Ortiz, and Holly Rose Ortiz; sister, Gertrude Hearne Kennedy, and various brother/sister-in laws, nieces, nephews and cousins.
Graveside services will be held at Calvary Church in Littleton, NC cemetery on Saturday, April 13, at 2:00 PM.
Family will greet visitors after the service.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Calvary Church (136 Calvary Church Rd., Littleton, NC 27850) or Rainbow Animal Rescue of NC (P.O. Box 972, Roanoke Rapids, NC 27870).
Online condolences may be sent to www.hockadayfs.com