Bess Alice Hambright Phifer

DATELINE: KINGS MOUNTAIN, NORTH CAROLINA

Bess-Alice Hambright Phifer

Bess-Alice Hambright Phifer was born on October 13, 1917, in Blacksburg, South Carolina and died on June 12, 2026. She was the daughter of Mable Weir and Thomas Alfred Hambright, Sr. She attended a one-room school in the Antioch community started by her mother, Mable Hambright. The teacher lived in the Hambright’s home. Bess graduated from Blacksburg Centralized High School where she played basketball and she was a Charter member of the Beta Club, inducted during her senior year, 1934-1935.

After high school, Bess attended and graduated from Asheville Normal and Teachers College. She was the only child in her family, one of eight, who graduated from college. Upon graduation, she taught 6th grade at Waco Graded School in Waco, North Carolina. She also coached the high school girls’ basketball team for three years while teaching in Waco.

Once World War II began, during the summer of 1943, Bess worked at the shell manufacturing plant in Charlotte, North Carolina where they made 40 mm shells. Bess served in the American National Red Cross from the fall of 1943 to 1946. She participated in a six-weeks training program at American University in Washington, D.C. and in Maryland. Before shipping out there was a large parade in Washington D.C. in which the six trained American Red Cross women participated. During the parade, the Red Cross women were directed to the President’s stand where they shook President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s hand. President Roosevelt told Bess, “Best Wishes.” Following training, she embarked on a journey by ship from the west coast to Hawaii. During the war, she held Red Cross positions in both Hawaii and Guam. She began as a recreation worker and became the recreation leader at Kilauea Military Camp, part of the Volcanic National Park, where the Red Cross Camp provided R&R for soldiers, who in groups of 500, spent 5 days before returning to battle. At the Rest and Recreation center, she and her team of workers organized horseback riding, archery, golf, tennis, bicycling, etc. for the military personnel on R&R. In Guam, she worked in a field hospital where she helped process American soldiers who had been freed from enemy prison camps. Many of the freed soldiers were severely wounded, had lost an arm or leg, and had not communicated with family in several years. She wrote letters for soldiers and she helped establish what would probably now be called a service club where the men could read magazines and listen to the radio while awaiting transportation home. Bess earned the rank of Lieutenant within the American National Red Cross. She was on board the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945, when Japan surrendered. She shook President Franklin Roosevelt’s hand and saw General Douglas McArthur on that occasion.

Bess dated Air Force Master Sgt. Marriott D. Phifer while she was in Hawaii and upon return to the states, they married on June 26, 1946, in a double wedding ceremony along with her sister, Lucy Hambright and Herman Kinard, at Antioch Baptist Church. Bess and Marriott established their home in Kings Mountain, North Carolina where Marriott worked for his father at Phifer Hardware. They had four children: Dr. Reta R. Phifer, Doyt B. Phifer, Connie Phifer Savell, and Marriott D. Phifer, Jr. (M.D.).

Bess taught for Kings Mountain City Schools from 1966-1988, first at West Elementary and then Central School and served as a math consultant, with a total of 27 years of service to Kings Mountain students. After she retired at age 72, she continued to substitute for four years. One of her teaching gifts was her ability to analyze individual student’s work, determine his/her weaknesses or learning gaps, and find/develop strategies and materials to facilitate learning success. In many cases, students made more than a year’s annual progress while under her leadership.

Always active at Boyce Memorial Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Kings Mountain, she taught Sunday School for many years, participated in worship, circle, and Loving Stitches, a ministry for making prayer shawls for Hospice. She knitted and crocheted hats, booties, and scarves for the Bonclarken Gift Shop. She was an active member of the Magnolia Garden Club. She has shared her flowers and her floral arrangements throughout her adult life, both at church and in the community. Bess was also a member of the Kings Mountain Study Club.

Bess Phifer received The Order of the Long Leaf Pine award presented by the Governor of North Carolina (April 2018) and was recognized as one of three Distinguished Women of Cleveland County by the Cleveland County Commission for Women (August 2, 2018).

Burial will be at 11:00 AM Tuesday, June 16, 2026  at Mountain Rest Cemetery, Kings Mountain with visitation from 1:00-1:50 PM at Boyce Memorial A.R.P. Church. Bess’ Celebration of Life will be at 2:00 PM at the church.

The family requests no flowers. Memorials may be sent to Boyce Memorial A.R.P. Church, PO Box 1145, Kings Mountain, NC 28086 or Testa Family Hospice House, 321 Kings Mountain BLVD, Kings Mountain, NC 28086.

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ARRANGEMENTS: HARRIS FUNERAL HOME AND CREMATION SERVICES, KINGS MOUNTAIN, NORTH CAROLINA