Foster "Ode" Tharpe

ASBURY COMMUNITY…Mr. Foster “Ode” Tharpe, a resident of the Asbury Community, near Ozark, died early Monday afternoon, May 24, 2021 at his home. He was 73.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 A.M. Thursday, May 27, 2021 in the Fuqua Bankston Funeral Home Chapel with Reverend Harold Peters and Reverend Michael Woodham officiating. Graveside services, with military honors, will follow in Asbury United Methodist Church Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 9:30 until 11:00 A.M. Thursday at the funeral home.

Mr. Tharpe, son of the late James Augusta “Gus” Tharpe and Annie Mae Greene Tharpe, was a native of Blue Springs, Alabama. He served in the United States Army during the Korean War. Following his military service, he returned to Blue Springs and moved to the Asbury Community in 1970. He was retired from Tharpe Brothers Drywall and was later employed as an armed guard at Ft. Rucker. Mr. Tharpe attended Chalkhead Baptist Church and enjoyed playing bass guitar at Salem Baptist Church. He also enjoyed music and playing his harmonica and was a member of the Cedar Creek Singers and the Dale Tones in earlier years. Mr. Tharpe was an avid University of Alabama Football Fan, enjoyed spending time with his family, and most of all telling “corny” jokes. He was preceded in death by a brother, James Webster Tharpe.

Surviving relatives include his wife of fifty-years, Sandra Turner Tharpe, Ozark; two daughters, Amy Suzanne Tharpe (Donnie Burke), Ozark and Nicole Frysz (Dr. Joseph Frysz, Jr.), Thomasville, GA; his sister, Marilyn Tharpe (Dennis Johnson), Ozark; two brothers, Wendell “Luke” Tharpe (Karlene), and Roger Tharpe (Jeanette), all of Skipperville; three grandchildren, Annistyn Reese Burke, Daxstyn Prynce Burke and Alexis Channing Frysz.

Serving as active pallbearers will be Craig Turner, Ricky Lowery, Michael Turner, Eddie Turner, Tad Dunlap, and T.J. Johnson.