Truda M. Underwood went to Heaven Monday, January 5, 2015, following a courageous battle with pulmonary fibrosis.
Born March 30, 1928, she was the ninth of 10 children born to the late John A. and Eva R. Hively.
Upon graduation from Marlinton High School in 1947, Truda moved to Columbus, Ohio, and worked for Ohio National Bank in the Bond Department. She played basketball on one of the bank’s teams and was a sub-bowler for their various bowling teams; where she won a pin-head tournament.
Truda married Hoil P. Underwood in 1954 and moved to Dayton, Ohio, continuing her employment with the bank. In 1956, she and Hoil moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where she worked for the Addressograph Mutltilithograph Company. In early 1958, the couple moved to Bristol, Virginia, where Truda was very active in the church. In 1966, Truda and Hoil returned to their farm in Huntersville.
Truda was a member of the First Baptist Church of Huntersville, where she taught first and second grade Sunday School, and was very active visiting old and young alike and sharing God’s love.
She served on the Southern States Home Advisory Committee for many years. She was a member of the Pocahontas County Farm Bureau for 60 years and was the first female to serve on the Board of Directors. She worked at the “Polls” every election until she “retired” in 2013.
Truda was a gifted artist, weaving egg baskets, sewing, knitting and crocheting. She enjoyed reading Christian fiction, She made more than 60 pounds of candy every Christmas as gifts for her family and friends. Every widower and shut-in she knew received a plate of goodies. She enjoyed feeding the 35 to 40 hummingbirds on her back porch and had a beautiful vegetable garden from which she never retired.
Truda was at her husband’s side on the farm, whether in the hayfield, the lambing pen or building fence. She taught everything by her own example. She wanted her life to be a living example of the love of Christ and to take as many people to Heaven with her as she could. She believed that it is not what you know, but who you know that gets you into Heaven. John 3:16.
She was employed by the Sewing Factory and then the Furniture Factory in Marlinton. She retired from Hanover Shoe Company, in Marlinton, after 10 years as a shoe inspector. She believed it was the 10 year exposure to the cigarette smoke in the factory that contributed to the damage of her lung health.
Truda was the kindest, most caring wife, mother, neighbor and friend. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Hoil P. Underwood; brothers, Burley Hively, Paul Hively and Hunter Hively; and sisters, Eula Mae Hively, Ann H. Dodson and Sylvia Johnson.
She is survived by her sisters, Juanita G. Davis, of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and Alice M. Underwood, of Warrenton, Virginia; a brother, Don Hively, and wife, Manota, of Dunmore; her children, Shelia A. Cauley, and husband, Jim, of Lewisburg, Bruce C. Underwood, and wife, Peggy, of Warrenton, Virginia, and Leslie H. Underwood, and wife, Jeanne, of Marshall, Virginia; five grandchildren, Peter C. Cauley, and wife, Jennifer, of McHenry, Illinois, Nicholas C. Cauley, of New York City, New York, Kristin A. Raiche, and husband, Matthew, of Japan, Hannah J. Underwood and Rachel H. Underwood, both of Marshall, Virginia; a great-grandson, Logan E. Raiche; 12 great-nieces; 11 great-nephews; 12 great-great-nieces; and eight great-great-nephews.
Interment was in the Beaver Creek Cemetery. A memorial has been established at the First Baptist Church of Huntersville.