Floyd Dees

Floyd Herman Dees, 87, a lifelong resident of Hope Mills, died Saturday.



He was the son of Gentry and Ida Beasley Dees.



He was preceded in death by his parents, his first wife, Mildred Pate Dees, and eleven brothers and sisters: Bertha, Charlie, Claude, Hattie, Kathryn, Lessie, Perry, Raymond, Sally, Walt and Pauline.



He was a textile worker at the No. 4 Plant in Hope Mills before enlisting in the U.S. Army during World War II. He served in the 66th infantry as a field sergeant.



He survived one of the greatest tragedies of the war. On Christmas Eve of 1944, he was among some 2,200 American troops aboard the transport ship Leopoldville being carried from England to France to relieve American forces fighting in the Battle of the Bulge.



The Leopoldville was torpedoed in the English Channel by a German submarine and sank. Some 700 to 800 soldiers aboard the ship lost their lives. Dees survived and went on to win a Purple Heart.



Following the war he worked for 40 years at Bryan Pontiac Cadillac retiring as a service manager.



He was a longtime member of Highland Baptist Church, and later joined Lafayette Baptist Church.



He was a volunteer fireman for many years and was an avid golfer and fisherman.



He also served as a political adviser to his son while he was mayor of Hope Mills.



He is survived by his son, Eddie Dees and his wife, Susan, of Hope Mills, and his twin granddaughters, Carey and Casey Dees.  He is also survived by a sister, Lois Smith, of Hope Mills, and his second wife, Anita, of the home.  Other survivors include two step-daughters, Hope Kelley, and her husband, Mark, of Melbourne, Fla., and Susan Appleby and her husband, David, of Beaumont, Tex., one step-daughter-in-law, Melanie Rains, and her husband, Bob, of Tulsa, Okla. He had eight step-grandchildren and 12 step-great grandchildren.



Visitation will be Wednesday from 1-2:45 p.m. at Pinecrest Funeral Home in Hope Mills, with the funeral service to follow at 3 p.m. Dr. Brian Lee will officiate. Burial will follow in Gilmont Cemetery in Hope Mills.



Memorials may be made to Lafayette Baptist Church or a favorite charity. Funeral arrangements will be handled by Pinecrest Funeral Home in Hope Mills.