Marie Hardison Hester

Marie Hardison Hester, 89, of Raleigh passed away peacefully on the afternoon of Thursday, December 11, 2025.

She was born and resided in Sampson County until she married and eventually moved to Raleigh, NC. She is the daughter of the late Lewis Hardison and Mittie Jackson Hardison. She is survived by her Sons, Barry Hester of Raleigh and Darrin Hester (Debbie) of Garner. She is survived by her sister Myrtle’s family Randy, Candi, Tanya (Mike) and Thomas (Great Nephew). Sister-in Law, Patricia Page, including other nieces and nephews David Allen Page, Donna Guin, Amy Page, and Karen Sweeny (Adam). In addition, she is survived by her step-sisters Sylvia Sills (Dwayne), Helen Jackson (Delma), and longtime friend Mary Frances Bass of Dunn, NC. Additionally, there are many cousins, step-nieces, and step-nephews. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her sister, Myrtle Hardison Hinson, brother-in-law Thomas Hinson, and step-mother Olive M. Hardison.

Marie was a graduate of Plain View School. After High School, she worked at Belk’s in Dunn for several years. After that, she worked in the home raising the family and taking care of things. She loved her church, family, cooking, baking desserts, decorating, and working in and out of the home. Having family over for meals was one of the highlights of her week. She loved her flowers, getting Yard of the Month and winning the annual Home Christmas decorating award for the neighborhood. After her children were up in age, she returned to the workforce with the NC DOT at the Division of Motor Vehicles in 1983 with 16 years of service retiring in 1999. After retirement she spent much time taking care of her aging father, doing some traveling with the highlight being a church trip to The Holy Land. She enjoyed life to her fullest until her diminishing eyesight limited her independence. At that point, she handled this challenge one day at the time.

She was always encouraging of others and helped others when the need was there.

In lieu of flowers, friends may choose to make donations to The American Macular Degeneration Foundation (P.O. Box 515 Northampton, MA 01061-0515) or The Lee Tew Family Cemetery Fund (private family cemetery) (C/O Oscar L Tew, 1174 Eugene Jernigan Road, Dunn, NC 28334) or a charity of your choice.