Patricia Ann Johnson O’Berry, 73, passed away peacefully Friday, June 12, 2026, at her home in Granite Falls, North Carolina. She was surrounded by her family.
A devoted wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister and friend whose life was rooted in faith, family and love, she was born February 16, 1953, in Waycross, to the late Henry Clay and Talma Lee Johnson.
She grew up in Pierce County and attended Patterson High School, where she displayed determination and resourcefulness, sewing her own clothes, working alongside her family in their tobacco fields and her mother's restaurant.
She took on the role of wife and mother at a young age, demonstrating remarkable strength and resilience. After the loss of her first husband at 18, she later found her soulmate and married James Lee O’Berry June 16, 1978. She dedicated herself to raising her family and was deeply involved in the homeschooling movement of the 1980s, educating her children with care and devotion.
She found joy in simple pleasures including gardening, tending her flowers, antique shopping, reading and collecting treasures from the beach such as shells and driftwood. A lover of books and a faithful reader of Country Living Magazine, she cherished time spent learning and creating.
Becoming a grandmother in 1994 was one of her greatest blessings. She devoted herself to her grandchildren, often reading to them and teaching many of them to read before they began school. She was a constant source of love, guidance and encouragement.
She was the granddaughter of the late Rev. Elmer Dixon of Pierce County, and her strong faith in God guided her throughout her life. In her early years, she was a member and served as a Sunday School teacher at Offerman Baptist Church. She currently attended Hickory Bible Tabernacle in Newton, North Carolina.
She will be remembered as a strong and attentive mother, a dedicated wife and homemaker and a woman whose love for her family and faith never wavered. Though a stroke in 2011 changed the course of her life, it never diminished her spirit or the impact she had on those around her.
Her legacy of faith, resilience and unconditional love will live on in all who knew and loved her.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her first husband, Danny Lowman; her son, Timmy Lowman and her brothers, William “Billy” Johnson and Randy Clay Johnson.
Survivors include her loving husband, James Lee O’Berry; daughter, Sabrina Stevens (David); son, Matthew O’Berry and daughter-in-law, Misty Lowman. She leaves behind a cherished legacy through her grandchildren: William Lowman, Lawton O’Berry (Sally), Devon Cason (Kayla), Levin Guinn (Hannah), Neilee Lowman, Ayden Stevens and Macy Stevens. She is also survived by her sisters, Lisa Sweeney (Jon) and Tammy Bowman, along with numerous sisters-in-law: Melissa Chancey, Linda Schenck, Linda L. Herrin, Casey Smith (John), and Brenda O’Berry and several nieces, nephews and other relatives.
Visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m. Monday, June 15, at the funeral home.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, June 16, from the chapel of Hart Funeral Home.
Interment will follow in the New Home Cemetery in Offerman.
Sympathy may be expressed by signing online at www.hartfh.com.
Hart Funeral Home of Blackshear is in charge of arrangements.
