Rebecca Sue Isenhour Huneycutt spent her life taking care of others, mostly in a volunteer capacity.

In her final years, people Rebecca did not know returned the favor.

Before becoming Rebecca, Sue was the homecoming queen and an all-conference basketball player at New London High School. She graduated from cosmetology school and operated a beauty shop in Richfield beside Carl Sells’ grocery store.

Sue wed Wayne Huneycutt on Dec. 13, 1959 at Mt. Zion Lutheran Church.

While Wayne was working at Alcoa, which he retired from in 1997 after 31 years, Sue cared for their children, Michael Wayne and Susan Denise, at home until they could go to school.

Sue then began volunteering as a tutor at New London Elementary School, helping other kids with reading and math skills.

She also enjoyed cooking, gardening, canning peaches and beans and operating the tractor. She also took up tole painting from Kathleen Miller Kirk, leaving her home with many works of art she created.

Sue also handled bookkeeping for New London Methodist Church, delivered Meals On Wheels and transported individuals to doctor appointments.

Wayne and Sue also enjoyed traveling, whether it be mission trips, cruises, beach trips or a journey out west to the Grand Canyon.

“We went to the Grand Canyon and rode mules down to the bottom of the canyon. Rebecca Sue would tell the story of looking over the side as we were riding down on the mules and saw this beautiful white bird way far down in the canyon. It kept getting closer and closer, and she realized it was a helicopter, and not a bird. This made her realize just how far down in the canyon we were going to have to travel on that mule,” Wayne says.

“She was just an active person all the time,” he added.

But at age 75, Sue was diagnosed with breast cancer. She received radiation treatment and chemotherapy and had a breast removed. Wayne wonders if all that contributed to what happened next.

A few years later, Sue was diagnosed with dementia.

That was when Sue decided to go by her first name, Rebecca.

At first, Wayne says he had some help from local caregivers. However, someone let the staff at Tilley Compassionate Care of Albemarle know of the Huneycutts.

Beth Thomas, a social worker, stopped by to see if they would qualify for hospice or palliative care.

They agreed to try it for six months.

But Rebecca had an aggressive form of dementia, so hospice caregivers continued their work.

Wayne speaks highly of each of the staff members and caregivers who entered their lives, mentioning each one by first name.

“They did so much,” Wayne says. “All of them were just excellent people.

I couldn’t describe how good they were. They was just like angels.”

He says caregivers like certified nursing assistant Theresa made sure she was bathed, took her medication and received treats, like a Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pie.

“It’s one of the best things that I know that a person could have,” he says, speaking of Tillery Compassionate Care.

“We never had a bad person who came up here with an attitude,” he added. “They just had a tactic they could use to talk to people.”

Someone also signed the Huneycutts up for Meals On Wheels.

“It was really a touching thing to get those meals, it was a warm meal.

I was really blessed,” he says.

Rebecca kept declining and she was moved to Spring Arbor of Albemarle.

“They still came over there and the nurse checked her,” he says of Tillery Compassionate Care’s staff. “They would check her for bed sores, any bruises, anything that might be out of the ordinary that wasn’t there yesterday. They could not have been better. I’m a big supporter of that compassionate care.”

For all the care she gave others, Wayne says he was glad his wife received proper care through Tillery Compassionate Care during her final years.

“It’s the dividends for all she did for different people,” Wayne says.

But the care was not just for Rebecca.

“Even before she passed away they came up to see if I needed anything,” he says.

And after she passed on Oct. 7, 2024, at age 83, just two months shy of their 65th wedding anniversary, the care did not end — for Rebecca or Wayne.

Rebecca continued to help others as she donated her body to Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Tillery Compassionate Care continues to assist Wayne.

“Janna, she came up every month after that for a good while. She probably would have kept coming,” Wayne says.

He says he told her one day that there might be others who need her more than him.

“If you ever need me, you call me and I’ll come up and talk to you,” he remembers Janna Spurr telling him.

Janna was also the leader of a grief program that Tillery Compassionate Care hosts once a month at Blue Bay Seafood Restaurant in Albemarle.

“As a bereavement counselor, we often don’t know the impact of our services on each individual. However, sometimes in grief counseling clients discover that helping others helps them in their healing process,” Spurr said. “Through attending our monthly support groups and inviting others to attend the monthly meetings with him, Wayne has been able to spread hope and healing to more men and women in our community. It truly is a blessing to see individuals in our community transform their loss into a love ministry, by finding ways to support others who are suffering.”

Wayne still goes to the support group meetings, for, as he puts it, he didn’t lose half of himself when Rebecca died, he lost three-fourths.

“Your wife is here every day, every night. You kiss her good night: tell her you love her when you go to bed. Every night, you do that,” he says.

“I had a honeymoon from the time I got married until the time she passed away.”