Clara Rosa Hess

Clara Rosa Lewis Hess, 79, went home to be with Jesus on Tuesday, July 21, 2009, at her home in Aiken, SC.

Mrs. Hess was a native of Asheville and was a daughter of the late Ernest Edgar and Dozie Emaline Lewis. She was preceded in death by her husband, Arthur Dell Hess, Jr., a grandson, Sgt. Kenneth Dale Hess, and four brothers, Roy, Earl, Bill and Johnny Lewis.

While in Asheville she was employed as a quality control inspector with Gerber Baby Foods and was a member of Bethesda United Methodist Church. In Aiken, she was a member of Levels Baptist Church and Bethany Sunday School Class. She loved her church and family and adored her step grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

She is survived by one daughter, Rita Yates and her husband, Roger, of Aiken; one son, Terry Hess and his wife, Robyn, of Asheville; two granddaughters, Michele Rice and her husband, Keith, and Tandace Taylor; grandson, Thomas Dell Yates and his wife, Cynthia; six great-grandchildren, Ashley, Abigail, Samantha, Austin, Nickolas, and Alex; two sisters, Susie Ledford, of Swannanoa and Rebecca Watkins, of Cleveland, TN; and two brothers, Joseph Lewis and his wife, Margo and Troy Lewis and his wife, Valerie, all of Swannanoa.

The funeral will be at 2:00 p.m. Saturday at North Asheville Baptist Church with the Rev. Eric Reece officiating. Burial will be at Ashelawn Gardens of Memory.

The family will receive friends at the church one hour prior to the service in Asheville.

A memorial service will be planned in the near future and will take place at Levels Baptist Church, Aiken