December 22, 1921 ~ August 14, 2024 (age 102)
Arlene Hilburn Temple was born on December 22, 1921 to Lou Ella Gause and Cleve Hampton Hilburn of Columbus County, North Carolina, the fourth of ten children. She graduated early from Cerro Gordo High School where her skills on the basketball court helped her team secure a championship. Following her high school graduation she attended The Palmetto School of Beauty Culture in Florence, South Carolina and worked as a licensed beautician prior to her marriage on November 3, 1942, to then Staff Sergeant Jesse R. Temple. She was a gifted homemaker and an avid gardener who loved planting her flowers in the spring.
She is survived by three children- Phyllis Hazel and her husband, Bud; Debra Tervala; and Brian Temple and his wife, Kristianna Rebbert; 10 grandchildren- Alessondra Temple, Kevin Tervala, Justin Tervala, Julie Tervala, Jesse Hazel, Jeff Hazel, Jim Hazel, Jeremy Temple, and Janelle Lewis; 17 great-grandchildren; and 3 great-great grandchildren, along with other loving family members and friends. Her husband, Jesse Temple, her son, Wayne Temple, and her grandson, Jeff Temple, pre-deceased her.
Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, August 20, 2024 in the old sanctuary of the Porter Swamp Baptist Church in Cerro Gordo, NC at 1:00 pm. Burial will occur after the funeral in the church cemetery, followed by a gathering in the Church Fellowship Hall.
Memorials may be made to to The Porter Swamp Baptist Church- PO Box 98, Cerro Gordo, NC, 28430
