Stella C. Denning

Stella C. Denning, 81, of Garner, passed away Friday, August 7, 2020. A native of Wilkes Co., she was the daughter of the late Ed and Ruby Cole Church. Stella spent her life in service to others, whether it was her family and friends, or in her career at Dorothea Dix Hospital in the surgery and recovery ward. After graduating from West High School in Millers Creek in 1956, she attended Davis Hospital School of Nursing in Statesville where she was certified as a Registered Nurse. A short time later she met the love of her life and husband of 59 years, Sherrill Mack Denning. He passed in 2018 and they are now reunited, forever. Funeral service will be held Tuesday, August 11, 2020, at 3pm, at Holland’s United Methodist Church, 9433 Ten Ten Road, Raleigh, NC 27603. Burial in the church cemetery will follow. The family will receive friends from 1-3pm prior to the service. Stella is survived by her children, Mike Denning and wife, Sandra, Carla Motley and husband, Wayne, and Jay Denning; grandchildren, Jonathan Hopwood and wife, Sandy, Joshua Hopwood, Justin Denning and wife, Caitlyn, Jacob Motley and wife, Katie, Maddison Motley, Brandon Arnold and wife, Markie, and Carrie Karl; sisters, Grace Wadkins, Edna Wood, and Geraldine Blackburn; and sisters in law, Rochelle Snead, Linda Kaye Stafford, Minnie Lou Wilkes, Judy Jackson, Gail Whittington, and Barbara Denning. In addition to her parents, Stella was preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, Sherrill Mack Denning; brothers, Rev. Ed and Lonnie Church; sisters, Ethel (Peggy) Bumgarner and Pearl Osborne. The family has asked for donations in Stella’s Memory to be made to Samaritan’s Purse, Emergency Medicine, https://www.samaritanspurse.org/donation-items/emergency-medicine/