Sarah Louise Harkey

Mrs. Sarah Louise Rice Harkey, age 82, went to be with her Heavenly Father on September 28, 2015. A celebration of Louise's life will be 4:00pm Thursday, October 1, at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church officiated by Rev. Mike Johnson, Rev. DJ Lura and Rev. Faye McRorie. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. The Harkey family will receive friends prior to the service from 2-4pm, in the church fellowship hall. Louise was the daughter of the late John C. and Sarah Eudy Rice. She was preceded in death by her husband John Henry Harkey. Louise graduated Mt. Pleasant High School in 1951. She worked as a Design Artist at Cannon Mills and continued to work at Fieldcrest Cannon as an artist until she retired in 1998 with 25 years of service. She was a lifelong member of Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Mt. Pleasant where she loved working in the flower gardens, teaching Sunday School and quilting. She was also a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Salisbury. Over the years she has enjoyed sharing her God given artistic ability with the community. She painted the Story Well at Mt. Pleasant Elementary with Disney Characters which is still being enjoyed today. She also had the privilege of painting several tiger murals and The Polar Express for the kids to enjoy. But one of her favorite activities was helping with the mural wall, "A Tribute to Textiles" at the elementary school. She designed an artist palette to represent her work with textiles. Surviving Louise are her sons, Tony Harkey and wife Tammie, Phillip Harkey, Todd Harkey and wife Melissa, and daughter, Donna H. Johnson and husband Randy, all of Mt. Pleasant: Grandchildren, Amber Spratling and husband Ryan, Kent Harkey and wife Michelle, Drake Johnson, Evan and Allyson Harkey and Jared Troutman: Great Grandchildren, Lillie and Jack Spratling. Memorials may be directed to Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, 9400 Gold Hill Rd., Mt. Pleasant, NC 28124, St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Helping Hands Ministry, 205 St. Paul's Church Rd., Salisbury, NC or Hospice and Palliative Care, 5003 Hospice Lane, Kannapolis, NC 28083