Mr. Eddie Strickland, age 67, of Pope St. Benson, died Monday, April 30, 2012 at Wake Medical Center in Raleigh.

Mr. Strickland was born July 26, 1944 in Harnett County to the late Charles Preston & Esther Addison Strickland. He was a professional truck driver with Old Dominion for 33 years. Mr. Strickland was a veteran of the US Army and the Vietnam War and a member of Vietnam Veterans Chapter 990 in Smithfield. He was a 1963 graduate from Oxford Orphanage in Oxford. He was also an active member, a Sunday School teacher, and a Deacon of the Hodges Chapel Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church. He was preceded in death by his parents, a sister, Virginia Adams and a brother, Rickie Strickland.

Funeral Services will be held Thursday, May 3, 2012 at 2:00PM at the Hodges Chapel Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church, with Revs. Michael Preddy & Kelvin Blackman officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery with military honors.

Surviving are:

Wife: Joyce Barbour Strickland of the home

Daughter: Joy S. Crabtree & (husband) Brad of Four Oaks, NC

Son: Rev. Kim Strickland & (wife) Susie of Benson, NC

Grandchildren: Chelsey & Levi Strickland
Alyssa & Tyler Crabtree

Sisters: Margret Hobbs & (husband) Gayle of Benson, NC
Pauline Nance & (husband) Gerald of Trinity, NC
Gail Dupree & (husband) Johnnie of Ayden, NC

Brothers: Charles Strickland of Dunn, NC
Ronnie Strickland of Dunn, NC
Ben Tripp & (wife) Patsy of Erwin, NC

The family will receive friends Wednesday, May 2, 2012 from 6:00PM to 8:00PM at Hodges Chapel Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church. Flowers are welcomed or memorials may be made to the Hodges Chapel PFWB Church Cemetery Fund or the Masonic Home for Children, 600 College Street, Oxford, NC 27565.