September 11, 1935 ~ August 31, 2025 (age 89)
Derotha Gore Hooks, age 89, a native of Columbus County, North Carolina and a resident of Covington, Georgia, passed away on August 31, 2025, just days before her 90th birthday.
Born on September 11, 1935, in the Beaverdam Community of Columbus County, Derotha was the daughter of the late Pinkney Crandall Gore and Mary Eliza Cartrette Gore. She grew up deeply rooted in her community and her faith, which remained central throughout her life.
Derotha devoted her life to caring for others. A nurse by profession and later a nurse educator, she shared her skill, compassion, and wisdom with countless patients, students, and families. This calling extended far beyond her career, and she often spent nights sitting with elderly neighbors so they would not pass alone and, in her own later years, she lovingly cared for residents of her assisted living home, The Oaks, offering them companionship and dignity.
Known for her elegance and her love of beauty, Derotha had a gift for making the world around her brighter. She poured her care into her home, her garden, and the meals she prepared, always adding a touch of grace and warmth. Above all, she loved God, loved people, and loved flowers, the earthly reflections of the joy and tenderness she carried in her heart.
Derotha was preceded in death by her husband, Franklin Delano Hooks, her parents, two brothers, George Gore and Jesse Alton “Rusty” Gore, sister-in-law, Miriam Huggins Gore, and twin infant sisters.
Derotha is survived by her two daughters, Harva Kaye Henry and husband Stephen, of Covington, GA, and Sanda Faye Minor and husband David, of Pittsboro, NC. She was the proud grandmother of Hannah Eliza Henry and Sarah Henry Shannon, husband Blake, and the cherished great-grandmother of Henry Ellis Shannon, who brought her tremendous joy in her final years. She is also survived by several nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews whom she loved dearly.
Funeral services will be held at Beaverdam Original Freewill Baptist Church at 2:00 PM on Thursday, September 4, 2025. The family will receive visitors at the church beginning at 1:00 PM. Interment will follow immediately after the service at McPherson’s Cemetery.
Derotha will be remembered not only for her many accomplishments, but also for her warmth, her faith, her devotion to her family, and her ability to make everyone feel special in her presence.
A service of Inman Ward Funeral Home & Crematory.
