Esma Rosa Shelton Ussery

Esma Rosa Shelton Ussery, 84, of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, wife of the late Reverend Dean Wright Ussery died Wednesday, August 21, 2013. The relatives and friends of Esma Rosa Ussery are invited to attend her Funeral Service on Saturday, August 24, 2013 in the First Baptist Church of Mount Pleasant at 2:00 pm. Interment will follow in Mount Pleasant Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends on Friday, August 23, 2013 in J. HENRY STUHR, INC., MOUNT PLEASANT CHAPEL FROM 6:00 UNTIL 8:00 PM.

Mrs. Ussery was born on July 18, 1929 in High Point, North Carolina, daughter of the late Henry William Shelton and Zelma Clement Shelton. She attended Wingate College and Furman University and graduated from Furman University in 1951 with a degree in Elementary Education. Mrs. Ussery taught Kindergarten at East Cooper Private School and 1st and 2nd Grade in Florence. She served alongside her husband in pastoral ministry for 50 years, teaching Sunday School, Vacation Bible School and G.A.'s She was very active in and supportive of missions. While in college, she served as a summer missionary in Crossnore, North Carolina. She also served alongside her husband when he served as pastor of a French speaking mission church in Louisiana and also served on a mission trip to Belize. Mrs. Ussery was recently active in First Baptist Church of Mt. Pleasant where she sang in the Senior Choir and attended the Tuesday Women's Bible Study. She served in the Stephen Ministry, prayer ministry, a missions group and as a teacher of the Hannah Sunday School Class and Faith Sunday School Class.

Mrs. Ussery had a great love for her family. She was a loving mother of three sons and a daughter; Bill Ussery and his wife, Odessa, of Mount Pleasant, Wayne Ussery and his wife, Caroline, of Atlanta, GA, John Ussery and his wife, Renee, of Savannah, GA, and Jane Reeves and her husband, Gary, of Conway, SC. She thoroughly enjoyed being a grandmother of nine; Jill Ussery, Suzanne Ussery, Will Ussery, Erin Ussery, Nathan Reeves, Andrew Reeves, Melissa Ussery Munneke and her husband, Ernst, Josh Ussery and his fiancee, Jordan, Justin Ussery and his wife, Sara, Ben Ussery and Sarah Ussery. Mrs. Ussery also had two great-grandchildren, Juliet and Tobias Munneke.

Mrs. Ussery will be greatly missed by many. She was a faithful servant, leaving a legacy of servanthood for all who knew her.

Memorials may be made to the First Baptist Church of Mt. Pleasant, "Building Fund," 681 McCants Drive, Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464.