Jessie Irene Wise

Jessie Irene “Sudie” Wise, nee Thomas, age 84, died on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. Born November 4, 1938 in Kinston, North Carolina. She was the daughter of the late Jesse Edgar Thomas and Ollie Mae Shedd who both resided in Jacksonville, North Carolina at the time of their passing.

One of 11 children, Sudie was a middle child, full of fire who had boundless energy until she fell seriously ill shortly before her passing. She took pride in her work and had a tremendous work ethic. She was a restaurant manager for Holiday Inn for several years and she worked as a purchasing agent for National Circuits, a company co-owned by Johnny Unitas, until she retired in 1994. After retiring she decided to take up childcare and operated a day care out of her home in Owings Mills, Maryland. Regardless of what she was doing for a living she always made time to keep her home meticulously clean and tastefully decorated.

For fun, Sudie enjoyed listening to all kinds of music but especially loved Elvis Presley. She went to several of his concerts before he passed away in 1977. She loved to watch soap operas, go on cruises, dance, play games like cards and Mexican dominoes, and play bingo and slot machines. She also enjoyed going to horse races with her husband of 55 years, Theodore Keadle Wise, whom she met while working at Fort Meade, Maryland in 1963.

Sudie was predeceased by her son, Jeffery Wayne Neal. Her sisters, Lila Mae Sullivan, Marjorie Elizabeth Riggs, Patricia Mosier and Dorothy Joyce Hall. Her brothers, Ernest Edgar Thomas, Grady Lee Thomas and Edward Franklin Thomas and a grandson, Russell Thomas Neal, Jr. Surviving are sisters: Eloise, Margaret, and Lois. Her husband, Theodore, three sons Russell Thomas Neal, Sr., Randall Dean Neal, Kevin Douglas Wise and two daughters, Roxanne Triva Ryder and Theresa Lynn Marshall.  Sudie also leaves behind thirteen grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held at Myers-Durboraw Funeral Home, 136 E. Baltimore St., Taneytown, MD 21787, Monday, January 9, 2023, at 12 p.m. The family will receive friends from 10 a.m. until time of the service.  Entombment will follow the service at Evergreen memorial Gardens, 2800 Old Westminster Pike, Finksburg, MD 21048