Earl Patrick "Max" Lassiter

ASHEVILLE Earl Patrick Max Lassiter, 78, of 35 King Arthur Place went to be with his Lord Sunday, October 4, 2009. A native and resident most of his life of Buncombe County. He was the former Owner & Operator of Lassiters Family Restaurant, served as the Charter Co-Vice President of the Erwin Optimist Club in 1974, helped organize the Erwin Booster Club in 1975 and was instrumental in the Erwin Youth League. He was also very active in NASCAR where he formerly worked with Banjos Performance and served as a flagman at the Asheville Motor Speedway. He was a former member of the Masonic Lodge and Oasis Shriners Temple. He was a U.S. Navy veteran during the Korean War where he served as an underwater demolition expert. Mr. Lassiter was the son of the late James Tollie Rhymer and Roxie Allman Rhymer and husband of Jeanette Susie Robinson Lassiter who died August 9, 2008. He was also preceded in death by his son, William Edwin Keith Lassiter. Surviving are his daughters, Maxine Fugate (Jim) of Waynesville, Barbara L. Davis of the home, Eva Jean Kestner (Bob Gaddy) of Asheville, Patty L. Moody of the home, Diane L. Stevens (Bruce) of Leicester; son, Frank Lassiter (Mary Ann) of Alpharetta, GA; 11 grandchildren; 12 great grandchildren; and several special nieces & nephews. Funeral services will be held 11 AM Wednesday in the chapel of Anders-Rice Funeral Home with Rev. Charles Phillips, Rev. Everette C. Haney, Jr. and Mr. Dickie Green officiating. Burial will follow in Macedonia Baptist Church Cemetery with military graveside rites conducted by the Erwin High School JROTC. The family will receive friends 6 to 8 P.M. Tuesday at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to Mountain Area Hospice, P.O. Box 25338, Asheville, N.C. 28813 or Banjo Matthews Scholarship, C/o Buncombe County Schools Foundation, 175 Bingham Road, Asheville, N.C. 28806.