Dorothy “Dot” Alice Griffin Meeks, 90, of Newport, North Carolina, passed away peacefully at home on Thursday, June 25, 2026, after an extended time in home hospice care.

A funeral service to honor Dot's life will be held at 11 a.m., Tuesday, June 30th at Munden Funeral Home, officiated by Rev. Jessie Wombles. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service. Dot will be laid to rest privately at Gethsemane Memorial Park. For those unable to attend, the funeral service can be viewed through her obituary page on Munden Funeral Home's website.

Born on December 26,1935 to Burble and Nellie Grey Woolard Griffin, Dot was born at home on a snowy day in Beaufort County, North Carolina. She grew up in the rural community of Blounts Creek, working alongside her parents and 4 siblings on the family farm. She attended Chocowinity High School until her senior year in 1953. After high school, she moved to Washington to live with her brother, Robert and helped to care for her nephew, Lee. She later met Charlie Lee Meeks, Sr. through mutual friends, and the couple married on September 4, 1960, after dating for nearly five years.

For the next several years, Charlie and Dot moved around Eastern North Carolina for Charlie’s career with the North Carolina Department of Correction until settling in Newport in 1966. Dot was a homemaker, devoting herself to caring for her family and later, to her role as “Mam-Mam” to her 5 grandchildren. She was an active volunteer, serving as a team mom for numerous Newport Little League and softball teams, a grade mother at Newport Elementary School, and a band parent for the West Carteret High School Marching Patriots. After their children finished school and continuing long after Charlie’s retirement as Superintendent of Carteret Correctional Center, Dot and Charlie competed on the whole hog pig cooking “circuit,” with Dot repeatedly winning showmanship awards for the best decorated cook site. Dot enjoyed hobbies of her own as well. She was an avid gardener well into her 80s and loved to spend the warmer months outside tending to her flowers. When she was not gardening, Dot enjoyed a variety of crafts and had a special talent for complicated and elaborate cross-stitching. 

Although she was a quiet person, Dot never met a stranger and had a surprising sense of humor. She always loved a good practical joke and making others laugh. Dot’s Christian faith was a source of comfort and strength throughout her 90 years of life. She could often be found on her sun porch in the mornings reading her Bible. She was a lifelong member and supporter of her home church, Ephesus Free Will Baptist Church in Blounts Creek.

Left to cherish her memories are her daughter, Charlotte Turnage; son, Charlie Lee Meeks, Jr. (Erin); grandchildren, Aliceson Turnage, Rachel Amburn (Jordan), Charles Turnage (Rebecca), Griffin Meeks, and Ella Grey Meeks; great grandson, Ariah Turnage; and numerous nieces and nephews.

In addition to her parents, Dot was preceded in death by her loving husband of nearly 65 years, Charlie L. Meeks, Sr.; son-in-law, Leon Turnage; brother, Robert Griffin; and sisters Salley Taylor, Hazel Waller, and Faye Jones.

The family would like to thank Robin Lingle and the staff of Carteret Health Care Home Hospice program, as well as caregivers Amy Parish and Rebecca Turnage, for their care and guidance during this time.

In addition to flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Leon Mann Jr. Senior Enrichment Center, Attn: Home Delivery Meals Program, 3820 Galantis Drive, Morehead City, NC 28557 or Carteret Health Care Foundation, Attn: Home Health & Hospice Program, 3500 Arendell Street, Morehead City, NC 28557.

Family and friends are welcome to submit online condolences at www.mundenfuneralhome.net.

Arrangements by Munden Funeral Home & Crematory in Morehead City, NC.