Agnes Hermes Courts

Agnes Hermes Courts, 98, of Reidsville died on December 15, 2019 at her home. A funeral Mass of Resurrection will be held at Holy Infant Catholic Church in Reidsville at 2 PM on Wednesday, December 18. Agnes Courts was born on November 23, 1921 in village of Ellenstedt, Oldenburg during the Weimar Republic era of Germany.  She was the fifth of eight children of Johann Feldhaus Hermes and Anna (Lamping) Hermes. She was educated in the village primary school and attended the Gymnasium of Notre Dame in Vechta, where her Uncle Jozef was the parish monsignor.  Agnes endured the hard years of World War II on her family farm with four of her brothers serving in the German army. In the summer of 1945, she met a soldier of the American 29th Division who had landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day, and had fought his way across France into Germany.  On their third meeting, she accepted the proposal of her future husband, Frank J. Courts. However, protocols of the postwar period prohibited Germans from immigrating to America. In the interim, Agnes worked as an interpreter for the American Army occupying the Bremen Enclave. By 1947, she was able to come to America where she married Frank, who owned part of the old family plantation on the Narrow Gauge Road. Together they operated a dairy and tobacco farm. She was an incredibly hard worker as well as a dutiful wife and mother.  She helped with the dairy while working for Dan River Mills and later the American Tobacco Company, while raising three children. Frank died unexpectedly in 1979 while employed as a rural mail carrier in Ruffin, NC.  Agnes was devout Catholic. She was the oldest surviving founding member of Holy Infant Catholic Church.  She loved flowers, a well-kept home, and her three children.  Her greatest joy was that she and Frank were able to send all three of their children to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mrs. Courts was predeceased by her parents and husband as well as her brothers Jozef, Heinrich, Franz and Paul Hermes, and her sisters Maria Helms and Ida Ruhl.  In addition, Agnes was preceded in death by her devoted daughter, Nancy Courts Lane, who worked tirelessly to provide the best care for her invalided mother until last October.  Agnes is survived by sons Dr. Frank J. Courts(Patrice) of Rocky Mount, NC and Michael Hermes Courts(Julia) of Greensboro; eight grandchildren: Walter and Sarah Lane,  Jennifer, Daniel, Patrick, William, Katherine and Margot Courts; seven great-grandchildren. Agnes is also survived by her son-in-law Walter F. Lane of Chincoteague, VA and a brother, Otto Hermes of Cincinnati, Ohio as well as numerous nieces and nephews. In her last years Agnes was confined to her home and was lovingly cared for by sisters Ruby Carter Pinnix and Catherine Carter Perdue, and their extended families, who were old neighbors from the Narrow Gauge community. They were to her as daughters and she was to them as a mother. Citty Funeral Home in Reidsville will be in charge of arrangements and the family will hold visitation there from 6-8 on Tuesday. Burial will follow the funeral mass at Greenview Cemetery in Reidsville.  Remembrances can made to Hospice of Rockingham County P.O. Box 281 Wentworth, NC  27375. Online condolences may be sent to cittyfh.com.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Agnes Hermes Courts, please visit our floral store.