November 19, 2024, 82, Mount Olive —
Robert Roscoe Best, best known as Bobby Best, passed away in the early hours of the morning on Tuesday, November 19, 2024, while in the care of Wayne UNC Healthcare. Mr. Best was 82 years old and was a Mount Olive area resident for all of his life.
Funeral services will be held by the graveside on Friday, November 22, at 11:00 a.m. at Wayne Memorial Park. Officiating will be the Rev. Bryan Wheeler and the Rev. Sherman Dilley. The family will greet friends at the cemetery at the conclusion of the service, and at the residence at other times. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Northeast Original Free Will Baptist Church, attn: Geoffrey Merritt, 489 Northeast Church Road, Mount Olive, NC 28365.
Mr. Best was a long-time employee of Burlington Industries where he was a sewing machine mechanic. Following its closure, he worked with NAPA Auto Parts in Mount Olive as a parts deliveryman.
A devout Christian, he was a lifelong member of Northeast Church where he had been a deacon, a church trustee, a Sunday School teacher, a choir member, a church poet, and served as secretary/treasurer of the men’s fellowship group.
His surviving loved ones include his wife of 63 years, Cecille Kornegay Best; two of his three sons and two daughters-in-law, Doug Best of Mount Olive, Michael and Amy S. Best, also of Mount Olive, and Sylvia Best of Clinton, widow of deceased son, Robert Allen Best; grandchildren, Machala Herring and husband, Daniel, of Seven Springs, Ryan Smith of Princeton, Andrew Sanders and wife, Rose, of La Grange, Mike Nelms of New York, and Ray Nelms of Ohio; several step-great-grandchildren; two sisters and a brother-in-law, Duck B. Macon of Raleigh, and Jeanie B. and Jimmy Merritt of Mount Olive; a brother, Ronnie Best of Mount Olive; and a sister-in-law, Merdie Best of Mount Olive; along with several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his son, Allen; a daughter-in-law, Catherine Best; his parents, Roscoe and Carrie Peele Best; a brother, William Allen “Billy” Best; a sister and brother-in-law, LaRoyce B. and Donald Oates; and another brother-in-law, Charles Macon.
