Margaret Lawrence Grayson, 95, of Blacksburg, VA, died at home on April 9, 2018. She was born on December 30, 1922, in Portsmouth, VA, and grew up in Windsor, VA. She was the daughter of Joshua Frank Lawrence and Nannie Belle Rea Lawrence.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, James McDonald Grayson, her daughter Janet Margaret Grayson Cofer, four brothers (Herbert, Michael, Franklin, and George Lawrence) and two sisters (Mary Lawrence Austin and Katherine Lawrence Nelms).
In 1944 Margaret graduated from Longwood College with a degree in home economics, and afterwards taught biology for a year in Holland, Virginia. It was there that she met her future husband, “Jimmy.” Margaret fully embraced her roles as wife, mother, and grandmother for the rest of her life. She will long be remembered by her family and friends for her positive, encouraging nature, her lack of pretention, and her warmth and generosity of spirit.
Margaret had a passion for gardening, a remarkable skill for doing needlework of all kinds, and a knack for fixing broken things.
She is survived by three daughters, Nancy L. Grayson and her husband, Curt Harvey, of Athens, GA, Elizabeth A. Grayson and her husband, John Wilshear, of Atlanta, GA, and Mary Grayson Segars and her husband, Al, of Beaufort, SC; five grandsons, Eric Grayson Holmes, James Franklin Cofer, Albert Lucas Segars III, James McDonald Segars, and Grayson Kent Segars; and two great-grandsons, Franklin Justice Cofer and Elliott James Cofer.
The Grayson family would like to thank the wonderful caregivers who have helped Margaret in so many ways over the past eighteen years: Traci Burke, Charlene Simpkins, Lori Roop, Shirley Lockhart, Debbie Dobbins, Lee Shumate, Rosie Ratcliffe, Ashley Custer, and Annetta Martin. The family is also grateful for the more recent care she received from the nurses of Good Samaritan Hospice.
Arrangements are being handled by McCoy Funeral Home. A memorial service will be held in Blacksburg at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Good Samaritan Hospice of New River Valley, 1160 Moose Drive, NW, Christiansburg, VA 24073, or to the Margaret L. Grayson Scholarship, Longwood University Foundation Office, 201 High Street, Farmville, VA 23909.
