Sadie Mae Lamm Tedder of Smithfield, NC passed away on June 30, 2022, in her home surrounded by several members of her family.
Sadie was born October 11, 1933, in Johnston County, NC in or near Wilson Mills. When she was about 4 years old, she was adopted by
Isom and Ettie Price Lamm. They provided her with a loving and Christian home, and she shared that love with others throughout her life.
She had a very short childhood. At the age of 14 years and 3 months, Sadie went to South Carolina and married Roney Cecil Tedder. Fifteen months later, they had their first child, Bonnie Carol Tedder. Their marriage survived for 48 years, until Roney's death June 8, 1994. During those 48 years she had seven children (two girls and five boys).
Her life was filled with hard work, cooking, cleaning, and caring for a large family. In addition
to the obvious pleasures a large family can bring, it can also bring times of great hurt
and sorrow. And Sadie had more than her share. In the late '50's two of her children
contracted polio. One child was left with one of her arms paralyzed the other child
recovered with no paralysis. In 1978 her oldest, Bonnie was traveling home from visiting
Sadie and Roney and a drunk driver struck her car and killed Bonnie, her one- year-old
daughter Melissa Carol Joyner and her ten-year-old stepdaughter, Gloria Jean Joyner. In
2001 her son, Jerry Cecil Tedder, and his son, Blake Anthony Tedder barely survived a plane
crash in Colorado and spent months at the UNC Burn Center in Chapel Hill. Three years after
the plane crash, Jerry found out that he had cancer and passed away a couple of months
later.
Neither Sadie nor her husband, Roney, had an education above the eighth grade, yet
they were able to raise seven children that went on to become successful and productive
members of their communities.
Sadie was known by everyone to be a happy and loving person. She was often the first one
to show up with love and support for her friends and family in their times of need or suffering.
She loved gospel music, bluegrass music, her children, grandchildren, great- grandchildren,
mountains, oceans, cats, and dogs. She would often take in a stray animal that no one else
would care for and give them food and shelter. In 2012 Sadie received the Governor's Award
for Volunteerism by the then Governor, Beverly Eaves Perdue. In her letter, Gov. Perdue
stated that Sadie received the Award for "recognizing the needs of others and working to
improve those circumstances".She is preceded in death by her parents Isom Lamm and Ettie Lamm; daughter, Bonnie Carol
Tedder Joyner and daughters Melissa Carol Joyner and Gloria Jean Joyner; husband, Roney
Cecil Tedder; son, Jerry Cecil Tedder; half-brothers, Jimmie Kirkland Griffin, and James Ralph
Griffin.
She is survived by her sons; Donald Thurman Tedder (Sherry); Rueben Isom Tedder (Joy); Roney Michael Tedder; Jason Rodney Tedder (Cyndi); daughter, Joy Kaye Tedder; daughter-in-law Melanie Smith Tedder; stepdaughter, Margaret Tedder Musacchio; half-sisters, Myrtle Gray Toole and Martha Corina Pelletier; 14 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 2:00 pm on July 9, 2022, Parrish Funeral Home 1351 S.
Pollock St, Selma NC 27576 with Rev. D. A. Leonald officiating. A one-hour visitation will be
held at 1:00 pm just prior to the funeral services. Interment will follow at Selma Memorial
Gardens, Services entrusted to Parrish Funeral Home of Selma, NC 27576.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in her and her family's honor to the
Community & Senior Services of Johnston County or the American Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).