Clara (Page) Koonce

Clara Dyce Page Koonce, beloved wife, mother, and grandmother, of 509 Oakridge Avenue, Fayetteville, Cumberland County, NC, passed away on December 12, 2024, at the age of 87.  She was born June 20, 1937, on Father’s Day, to Jefferson Herbert Page and Sarah Royal Page, at home, in Cross Creek Township, Cumberland County, NC.  She graduated from Fayetteville High School in 1955, and married the love of her life, John Wallace Koonce, on August 6, 1955.  She is preceded to heaven by her husband John and her great-grandson Gregory James Koonce. 

Clara is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Jefferson Herbert Page, Jr and Vicky Page, her sister-in-law Pat Owens, her brother-in-law William Koonce, her son and daughter-in-law, Gregory Raymond Koonce and Karen S. Koonce, her daughter and son-in-law, Carra Lee Koonce Spain and Bradley K. Spain, and her grandchildren Phillip Spain, Sarah Koonce, Samwise Spain, Alexander Spain, and Gregory Koonce Jr., and many nieces and nephews.    

Clara worked in many jobs over the years, starting out as a telephone switchboard operator, where she quickly rose to become a trainer. She spent many happy years at a Hallmark shop, worked at several non-profits including the NC Mental Health Association, and worked as a bookkeeper for several companies including Kerr Drug and Paris and Potter.  Her longest and dearest career was as an insurance adjuster for Callahan & Rice Insurance Group.  

Clara leaves behind a legacy of prayer, hospitality, and love.  Clara lived in service to others and never met a stranger.  She served her church, on the team for Contact suicide prevention, and in her community at her children’s schools and many volunteer efforts.  She also informally served many soldiers and their families from Ft Bragg, often providing meals, love, and a sense of belonging.  She was well-read, very informed, and provided wisdom where it was needed.  She served the local arts community in many productions at the Ft. Bragg theater, the Bordeaux Dinner Theater, and the Cumberland County Civic center.  She was passionate about the Lord, her children, and her family, serving her own mother into her 90’s.  There was always a place at Clara’s table for any who needed or wanted, and holidays saw a constant stream of extended family, soldiers absent from their own families, members of John’s construction crew, church members, and others she adopted as friends and guests of her children.    

Above all, she was a woman of prayer.  She prayed for anyone and everyone, and she was faithful to follow up on her prayers.  If anyone asked her for prayer, they could be confident that she would keep praying and would often ask months later how things were going, because she was still keeping that person or situation lifted up in prayer.  

She will be sorely missed.  Services will be held at Haymount United Methodist Church (HUMC), 1700 Fort Bragg Rd, Fayetteville, NC 28303, on Tuesday, December 17, 2024, at 3:00 p.m., with visitation following. 

The family requests that memorials be given to either HUMC or the Barrington Bible Sunday School Class at HUMC in lieu of flowers.

Online condolences may be made to www.jerniganwarren.com.

Arrangements by Jernigan-Warren Funeral Home, 545 Ramsey St., Fayetteville, NC 28301. 

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