Obituary of Mary Lona Sanders Pugh

WEST COLUMBIA—Funeral services for Mary Lona Sanders Pugh, 95, of West Columbia, will be held at 11 a.m., Thursday, July 25, 2013 at Mt. Hebron United Methodist Church. Officiating will be Rev. Tim Rogers, Rev. Mandy Taylor-Young and Rev. Larry Hays. Burial will follow Celestial Memorial Gardens. Honorary pallbearers will be the Loyal Workers Sunday School Class at Mt. Hebron United Methodist Church. The family will receive friends from 5-7 p.m. Wednesday evening at Thompson Funeral Home of Lexington. Memorials may be made to Mt. Hebron United Methodist Church, 3050 Leaphart Road, West Columbia, SC 29169. Mrs. Pugh, beloved wife of the late Ralph E. Pugh, passed away on Monday, July 22, 2013. Born in Saluda County, she was a daughter of the late James Otto Sanders and Sallie Elizabeth Schumpert Sanders. She was a lifetime member of Mt. Hebron United Methodist Church for close to 60 years; a member of the Loyal Workers Sunday School Class, The Young at Heart Club and United Methodist Women, where she held many positions. She was also in The Joyful Noise Choir and the Senior Hand Bell Ensemble. Lona volunteered at Lexington Medical Center for 26 years and she was also a Blue Star Mother. Surviving are her son, Joel E. Pugh and wife, Lois of Lexington; grandchildren, Kimberly Cannon (Bruce), Lexington, Katrina Poole (Brandon) and Christopher Edwin (Kristen) all of Lexington; six great-grandchildren. Those who preceded her in death, husband, Ralph E. Pugh; son, Gerald R. Pugh; granddaughter, Cynthia Jo Pugh Pearson; sisters, Helen Nichols, Ruby Lee Gibson and Varie Seay, brother, James Sanders;