City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
Paula Elaine Terry Thompson
Durham, North Carolina
Age 82.
Died 09/07/2025.
She was very proud of the fact that she and her mother, Juanita Anderson Terry, both attended Watts Hospital nursing program. Her mother earned a 3 year certificate on September 10, 1933. Thirty years later and 1 day before Paula Elaine Terry received her diploma from Watts Hospital on September 9, 1963. She was NC Board Certified as a License Practical Nurse October 18, 1963. She was an LPN and worked for the State of NC in Butner for 30 years.
She is preceded in death by her sweet and loved by all daughter, Dawn Renee Thompson. She is having a wonderful family reunion in heaven with many beloved family members: her siblings Delmas Anderson Terry, Patricia Lynn Terry Haskins; her parents Philip Arnold Terry, Juanita Anderson Terry; her aunt and uncle who raised her and her siblings Mary Charlotte Terry Hicks and Nathaniel Ward Hicks. She was also preceded by her husband Robert "Bobby Gene" Thompson, who she stood by all his life as well as in sickness and health. Paula Elaine is survived by her wonderful travel companion of 14 years, caregiver, and loving husband of 12 years, Douglas W. Skinner, her oldest daughter and son in-law: Juanita Thompson Rose and Johnny W. Rose, her two grandsons and their wives: David Robert Rose, Michelle Benson Rose; and Kyle Anderson Rose and Leah Pope Rose, her cousin/sister and her family, Charlotte Anne Hicks Weaver and Eugene Weaver, Anna Weaver Hall, and Caroline Weaver Stinson.
Paula Elaine will be remembered for her lively conversations, love of genealogy, and her flower beds and gardening. She enjoyed her vast doll collection and showing them to family and friends. Her love of music not only included old time country music and bluegrass, but included playing the piano, and listening to hymnals played on an organ at church. Finally, her compassion for an injured or handicapped child was observed many times over the course of her adult life.
A celebration of her life will be on September 21, 2025 at First Baptist Church of Butner on 200 West D St. Butner NC 27509. Visitation will be in the Family Life Center of the church. Visitation is from 1pm to 2pm. After the visitation a Celebration of Life will occur in the sanctuary of the church.
Instead of flowers, please consider making a donation in her memory to the music program at First Baptist Church. Checks may be mailed to P.O. Box 44 Butner NC 27509. In the memo line please remember to put her name Paula Elaine Thompson. Or follow this link https://onrealm.org/FirstBaptistChu20380/-/form/give/now. Either click "general fund" or scroll down to "music program" to make your contribution. Again in the memo line add her name Paula Elaine Thompson.
For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.
You can share this obituary using the following address, or click the button below to share on Facebook.
City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.
Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.
Our Promise
Apples to Apples
Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.
The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.
Genuine Care
We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.
Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.
We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.
State Wide
Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.
Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.
Our Services
$1196.75
Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.
$2875.66
We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.
$1917.84
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.
$1596.75
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation with a private family viewing. A private family viewing allows up to 10 immediate family members or friends to spend time with a loved one when a public visitation is not preferred.
$2497.50
An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.
$6081.48
We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.
$3033.75
This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.
$2640.59
As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.