Emily Crews Shearin
December 31, 1921 ~ January 6, 2025
Resided in: Rocky Mount, NC
ROCKY MOUNT – Emily Crews Shearin, a devoted wife and mother, beloved nurse, and centenarian, passed away peacefully on January 6, 2025, at the age of 103 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
Born in 1921 in Oxford, NC, Crews lived a remarkable life marked by compassion, dedication, and an enduring commitment to service.
Crews graduated from the Park View Hospital School of Nursing in 1943. At a time when a three-year nursing program cost only $100, she trained under challenging circumstances, gaining valuable skills and fortitude. A vivid memory from those early training years was December 7, 1941, when she learned of the Pearl Harbor attack while cleaning the hospital morgue—a moment that underscored the gravity of her work during a tumultuous era.
After earning her nursing degree Crews considered joining the Army Nurse Corps, but chose to build her life alongside her husband, Earl Creech Shearin, an Army Technical Sergeant. As he served in the military, she worked as a health department nurse in Georgia, as an Army hospital nurse in Alabama, and as a First Aid nurse on an ammunition line in New Jersey.
Together they settled in Rocky Mount in 1951 where they raised four children: two sons and two daughters, nurturing a family built on family, faith, and friends.
Crews’ nursing career spanned a period of profound transformation in healthcare. In April 2024, at the age of 102, Crews attended the 110th anniversary celebration of the Park View Hospital School of Nursing, sharing her memories and inspiring younger generations of nurses with her incredible story.
In her retirement years she began each day with devotions and prayer, then turned to numerous activities that drew on her talents, skills, and desire to serve others: volunteering for Meals on Wheels; helping with the Mother’s Day Out program and cooking in the kitchen of her church; knitting stocking caps for cancer patients; and knitting Christmas stockings for family and friends.
Crews will be remembered for her nurturing spirit, her unwavering dedication to her family and community, and her remarkable contributions to healthcare. Her legacy lives on in the countless lives she touched and the rich history she shared.
She is preceded in death by her husband of 58 years, E. C. Shearin and a grandson, Jeff Jackson. She is survived by her children: E.C. (Tim) Shearin, Jr. (Rita), Jane Shearin Currin (Wyatt), Barbara Jill Shearin, and David B. Shearin (Sherry); her grandchildren: Abby E. Currin; Ross A. Kirby; Emily S. Harper; and Emily P. McCombs; and her great-grandchildren (Jennifer Jackson; Sarah and Emily Creel; Connor and Riley Kirby; Charlie, Kate, and Winston Harper).
In addition, she is survived by her sister-in-law, Hodgie Shearin McGinty (soon also to be 103), countless nieces and nephews, as well as their children, in the Crews and Shearin families whom she loved.
They carry forward the values she both modeled and instilled.
The family will receive friends and relatives on Friday, January 10, 2025, from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM at Wheeler & Woodlief Funeral Home, 1130 N. Winstead Avenue, Rocky Mount, NC 27804.
A celebration of Crews’ life will be held on Saturday, January 11, 2025, at 1:00 PM at Englewood Baptist Church, 1350 S. Winstead Avenue, Rocky Mount, NC 27804 with the Dr. Michael Cloer officiating.
The service will be live streamed, and the link is englewoodbaptist.com/funeral.
A private family committal service will take place at Rocky Mount Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made in Crews’ memory to (1) Park View Nurses Scholarship fund at Nash County Community College (522 N Old Carriage Rd., Rocky Mount, NC 27804), or (2) Nash-UNC Health Care Hospice & Palliative Care (2460 Curtis Ellis Drive, Rocky Mount, NC 27804), or (3) Fund for Special Needs Children at Englewood Baptist Church (1350 S. Winstead Ave., Rocky Mount, NC 27803).
Arrangements entrusted to Wheler & Woodlief Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 1130 N. Winstead Avenue, Rocky Mount, NC 27804. You may share memories and condolences with the family by visiting www.wheelerwoodlief.com.
Services
Visitation: Friday, January 10, 2025 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Wheeler & Woodlief Funeral Home & Cremation Services
1130 N Winstead Ave.
Rocky Mount, NC United States
27804
(252) 451-8800
Celebration of Life: Saturday, January 11, 2025 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Englewood Baptist Church
1350 S. Winstead Avenue
Rocky Mount, NC United States
27803
View current weather.
Charities
The family greatly appreciates donations made to these charities in Emily Crews Shearin 's name.
Englewood Baptist Church, Special Needs Children Fund
1350 S. Winstead Ave.
Rocky Mount,
NC
27803
Nash Community College Park View Nurses Scholarship Fund
522 N. Old Carriage Road
Rocky Mount,
NC
27804
Nash UNC Health Care Hospice & Palliative Care
2460 Curtis Ellis Drive
Rocky Mount,
NC
27804
Tribute Video
Memories Timeline
Guestbook
Sign the Guestbook, Light a Candle
The Currin family will miss your loving & joyful presence on Christmas Eve & other special days. The numerous conversations & laughs that were shared via telephone will always be treasured. Your boundless energy, love & unconditional caring & giving to others will create a huge void in the community of Rocky Mt & surrounding areas. Thank you for the blessings & wisdom you so freely shared with your family, friends & patients for 103 years. Love & respect you with all of our heart.
Fond memories of Crews. Everytime my mother faced surgery she wanted Crews in the recovery room. Crews was always there even after retiring. She was a special friend to our family. Rest in peace in your Heavenly home.
People can be classified as givers or takers. Crews was a giver in every way. She gave of her time and talents to others. I have so many fond memories of conversations with her. She was a special friend ( I’m sure others feel the same) because she made you feel special to her. She was a godly woman of faith, love, and devotion. You could count on Crews as a prayer warrior. She will be missed. We rejoice she is living in her eternal home…I can only imagine. Well done thou good and faithful servant. To God be the glory.
May God bless the family with peace as I know you will be missed.
Crews will always be remembered as a devout Christian lady as well as a loving, caring, and thoughtful member of the extended Currin family. She made all celebrations extra special, talking to and showing her love and concern for each of us. She was happy for us in good times and prayed faithfully for us in bad times. We love her and will miss her but know that she is now happy in heaven.
Crews was a special friend. Always inspiring me every time I visited her. Prayers for all the family.
A family friend for as long as I can remember! A special person indeed!!
Always smiling, Crews looked at the positive and trusted in the Lord in every circumstance. As so many, I benefitted from her nursing care, her prayers, her friendship and I have to mention, her extraordinary cooking talents. She was an inspiration and talking with her was always uplifting. My love and prayers are with you, Tim, Jane, Jill and David and other members of your family. I will miss Crews greatly but she now experiences joy we can only begin to imagine being in the presence of the Lord and I look forward to seeing her again.
My mother, Zelma Rogers, worked with Ms. Crews at Park View and they also were in the same Sunday School class at Englewood Baptist. She was a sweet lady!
I have had the privilege of knowing Mrs. Shearin over many years. I would like to apologize to the family because I was out of town for her visitation and funeral. What a wonderful person she was. Even when she faced difficult situations she was always upbeat. She made this world a better place and heaven is blessed with her arrival.
We discussed the value of co-workers and how so many are like family members. In addition to her family she attended special events of co-workers. She was there with hand written recipes, hand embroidery baby quilts, and Christmas Stocking for so many newly weds. How about pot lunch events, can anyone forget her “Hersey Cake”? When needed she was there with “hope” or a needed comment of “humor”.
Ann Greene
Today was a very sad day for me. Today was the day that I found out that you had passed away. Due to some health challenges I was unable to communicate with your girls. I remember the day that you were taken to the hospital. I never believed that you would not return. I loved you and adopted to as my grandmother. You loved my grandchildren and myself as if we were family. Over the last 3 years you have touched my life with sunshine. We will truly miss you and your beautiful smile. I truly loved you more than you knew.
So R.I.P with the other angels. I will never forget you.
Love your neighbor and friend Annette Jones
I lived beside the Shearins in the early nineties. As a young couple Hector and I enjoyed knowing Mr. and Mrs. Shearin and meeting their family. They were great neighbors to us. When I was pregnant with my first child Mrs. Shearin would send meals in a blue cornflower corning ware casserole. I had the same pattern and made sure that she got hers back. As the years passed, I thought (hope) that perhaps I may have hers. This is only just one example of what a giving and wonderful person she was. We continued our friendship after we moved a few streets over and I cherish that she got to know my children as adults. I have thought often of what a gift God gave us to have her in our lives. My prayers to her family. We are all so blessed to have known her.