Birth Date: 04/21/1956
Deceased Date: 11/13/2023
Jean Meece Tapley
April 21, 1956 – November 13, 2023
Leslie Jean Meece Tapley, 67, of Wilson’s Mills, N.C., passed away peacefully in her home on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023.
Born on April 21, 1956, in Wilmington, N.C., Jean was a nurturing mother, devoted wife, loving daughter, caring sister and thoughtful friend. She squeezed a number of lifetimes into the one she was afforded, serving in police dispatch and security services in one, raising a tight-knit family and forthright son in another and embarking upon a whole new midlife career in another still.
Jean was a graduate of New Hanover High School in Wilmington, N.C., class of 1974. She was also an alumna of Smithfield-Selma High School in Smithfield, N.C. She attended Johnston Technical Institute in Smithfield, N.C., where in 1977 she was crowned “Miss JTI,” served as editor of the school yearbook and earned her associate degree in applied science and police science. Later in life, she was an award-winning president of the Rowan-Cabarrus Community College chapter of Phi Beta Lambda – the former collegiate division of Future Business Leaders of America – and an exemplary student in the school’s liberal arts program. Jean completed her higher education in 1997 as a graduate (cum laude) of Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, N.C., with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She fulfilled her destiny as a teacher until her retirement in 2008, a success in shaping the lives of children just beginning to find their way.
As a retiree, Jean dedicated time to the Wilson’s Mills School Alumni Association, a full-circle moment after she attended the school in her youth.
In 1977, Jean met her life partner, Daryl Wayne Tapley, in Newport News, Va. They married four years later and remained forever devoted, in sickness and in health.
In 1981, Jean welcomed her only child, Kristopher Wayne Tapley, in Manassas, Va. He carries her fearless spirit with him still.
Rounding out her family in 2016, with beaming pride and giddy expectation, Jean welcomed her grandson, Foster Wayne Tapley, in Glendale, Calif. His boyhood glow gave her constant joy.
Jean was romantic about the world and the potential of those in it. She loved a good story, particularly if it was true. She devoured crime-and-forensics books, movies and television programs. She adored a view of the ocean and the sound of its crashing waves. She had a strong will and a precious soul and she was known to any and all who met her as kind-hearted, curious, genuine, giving and sweet.
Jean’s passion was learning what she didn’t know. She was forever fascinated by what lay beyond her vantage, attracted to the awesomeness of life’s eternal mystery. She journeys ahead now to unlock it at last.
Jean leaves behind her husband, Daryl Wayne Tapley, of Wilson’s Mills, N.C.; son, Kristopher Wayne (April) Tapley and grandson, Foster Wayne Tapley, of Glendale, Calif.; brothers, Thomas Edison Meece Jr. of Willow Spring, N.C., and Mikheal Phillips (Georgina) Meece of Canberra, Australia; and sisters, Michele Wilson (David) Horton of Angier, N.C., Sheila Wilson (John) Flowers of Clayton, N.C., and Amy Meece (Knoll) Funke-Bilu of Richmond, Calif., as well as many nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her feline companions, Minnie and Pearl. Jean’s home always had a special place for furry friends.
Jean was predeceased by her father, Thomas Edison Meece Sr.; her mother, Anna Jean Johnson Wilson; her stepfather, Lawrence Holmes Wilson Sr.; her stepmother, Barbara Ellen Phillips Meece; and her brother, Lawrence Holmes Wilson Jr.
A service dedicated to Jean’s life and memory will be held at Parrish Funeral Home (1351 S. Pollock St., Selma, N.C., 27576) on Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023.
