Matilda Tart West

Roseboro,

Matilda Tart West, 82, passed away on June 22, 2023 after a prolonged illness. Matilda was the daughter of Wilbur Latham and Bettie Shearin West. She is preceded in death by her brother, Waits Artemus “Teamie” West and her sister, Bettie Lynn Groce.

The family requests, in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Roseboro First Baptist Church, 3720 S. Salemburg Hwy, Roseboro, NC 28382.

Matilda, or Til as she was known to her friends and family, was a life-long resident of Roseboro. She left home only to attend college at East Carolina University and begin her teaching career in Winston-Salem. Just a year or two later, she returned to Sampson County to teach high school history. According to her former students, she was a memorable teacher. Her antics to engage their attention included impersonating foreign leaders, leading archeological digs, hosting Roman banquets, and setting fire to a trashcan illustrating the conflagration that was World War I. During her tenure as a teacher, Matilda trained her students to interview local residents and write their oral histories. These articles were published in a three-volume book series, Pitch and Tar. The series was a hit, not only in the community, but across the state. Til and her students even received a letter from President Gerald Ford congratulating them on their achievement.

Matilda left her teaching career to begin a new chapter as front manager of her family’s business, Tart and West, Druggists. She created Aunt Til’s Corner, a small gift shop specializing in country wares. She truly enjoyed her co-workers, and they would often laugh at the absurdities of life that could only be found in a small-town drug store.

Matilda served Roseboro as a Town Commissioner. She was a life-time member of the Roseboro First Baptist Church where she taught Sunday School for fifty years and served as a deacon. Til sang in the church choir and her strong, beautiful soprano voice was often featured in solos.

Although Matilda did not have children of her own, she was Aunt Til to generations of nieces and nephews. Aunt Til was the fun aunt – the one who would show up to take you fishing or get a pizza; the one who would get you the toy that your parents wouldn’t let you have; the one who would dive in the flooded backyard to prove that getting out of school for a hurricane was just as much fun as getting out for a snow day.

Mourning her passing are her nieces, Delwood Herren (Jim) of Wilmington and Amy Dyer of Lewisville, and nephews, Thomas West (Lynn) of Roseboro, and David Groce (Kelly) of Greensboro. She is also survived by a bevy of great and great-great nieces and nephews. We will all miss her.

A small graveside service for the family will be held later this week.

Services entrusted to Butler Funeral Home, 401 W. Roseboro Street, Roseboro, NC 28382.