Mrs. Kay Frances Gearing, 85, passed away Thursday, October 22, 2026, at Best of Care Assisted Living in Kannapolis.

A funeral service is scheduled for 1:00 pm Monday, October 26, 2026, at Lady's Funeral Home Chapel. Rev. Mike Edwards will officiate. Interment will follow at Solid Rock Worship Center Cemetery.

The family will receive friends from 11 to 12:45 pm Monday at Lady's Funeral Home.

Kay was born September 25, 1941 in Cabarrus County. She was a daughter of the late Joe William Mullis and Maggie Sarah O'Neal Mullis. She retired from Cannon Mills where she was a hemmer in the Sheet Department.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Herman Silas Benjamin Gearing, Sr.; four sisters, Mable Morris, Sarah Jean Tucker, Martha Mullis and Joann Bowman; and two brothers, William "Sonny" Mullis and Walter O'Neal.

Kay is survived by her son, Herman Gearing, Jr. (Lynnette) of Kannapolis; sister, Betty M. Crowley of Concord; brother, Jerry Mullis of Locust; brother-in-law, C.D. Gearing of Kannapolis; grandson, Daniel Walters (Shanna) of China Grove; two grandchildren, Olivia Walters and Kinley Walters, both of China Grove; three step-great grandchildren, Logan Smith of China Grove, Madison Smith of Locust and Erica Medlin (Seth) of Albemarle; and two step-great-great grandchildren, Sienna Smith and Londyn Smith, both of Locust.