Sadie Mae Alford Pridgen

ROCKY MOUNT – Sadie Mae Alford Pridgen, age 88, passed away on Tuesday, March 7, 2017. Born in Franklin County, NC on April 13, 1928, she was the daughter of the late L. S. (Jake) Alford and Katie Elizabeth (Chick) Alford. She was also preceded in death by her husband, William Owen Pridgen, Sr.

Sadie was born into poverty, her childhood spent during the Great Depression and World War II. Her parents were poor sharecroppers. During very hard times the charity of Christian neighbors provided food for the family. As a child, Sadie learned to sew her school clothes from patterns and to cook using a wood stove. She picked cotton to support the family.

Sadie was blessed with a keen mind and a drive to improve her life condition. She enrolled in the Park View Hospital Nursing Program, attending classes while working in the hospital to pay for her education. She was pinned as a Registered Nurse in 1949. Sadie worked fulltime at Park View Hospital and later as a nurse for Dr. Julian Brantley, (OB/GYN) from 1949 until her retirement in 1986. She devoted her life to her beloved husband, William, and to her only child, Billy. Sadie taught Billy how to cook, sew, fear God, think analytically, and to accept responsibility for your own life choices. Sadie believed that no one was “entitled” to receive anything in life – all was earned. She discovered very recently that her most precious gift could not be earned – she received that gift when she accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal Savior.

Sadie leaves behind to cherish her memory, son, Billy Pridgen and wife, Donna; brother, L. E. (Lawrence) Alford and wife, Lucille; beloved nieces, Quinn, Cheryl, and Marcie; good friends and good neighbors; and special friends, Geneva and Mary Avent.

A private funeral service will be held at a later date.