COURTLAND — Mary Vaughan Raiford, 86, passed away on Sept. 13, 2017, in Southampton Memorial Hospital.
She was born in Boykins, Virginia, on Oct. 4, 1930, to G. Ellis Harris and Linwood Bryant Harris, and was also predeceased by a brother, Edward B. “Buster” Harris; and a daughter-in-law, Sylvie Berry Raiford.
Mary Vaughan graduated from Courtland High School as valedictorian of her class, and graduated from James Madison College (James Madison University) with honors and was a member of the Honorary Sorority of Phi Beta Kappa.
She taught high school business classes for 30 years. She was a member of Burdette Baptist Church and taught the Adult Class for many years.
Mary Vaughan loved the Outer Banks of North Carolina and she and her family looked forward to going there for the summer as soon as she got out of school. She loved to crab and fish there.
Left to cherish her memory are her husband of 58 years, Merritt L. Raiford; her daughter, Lynn W. King (Delford) of Rawlings, Virginia; her son, Daniel M. Raiford of Burdette; five grandchildren, Chris King, Katie King Slagle (Jonathan), Kelly King Jones (Brandon), Jennifer Raiford Domer (Sean) and Jeffrey Raiford; six great grandchildren; one sister-in-law, Ann Harris; two nephews, Bob Harris and Dr. George Edward Maitland (Dr. Teresa Maitland), all of Raleigh.
The graveside service will be at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 17, in Beechwood Cemetery Boykins, with the Rev. Kenneth Williams and the Rev. Raymond Bunn officiating.
The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. on Saturday in Wright Funeral Home, Franklin, and other times at the home of Sean and Jennifer Domer, 32024 Unity Road, Sedley.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Burdette Baptist Church in c/o Vanessa Bailey, 23297 Indiantown Road, Courtland, VA 23837.
The family would like to thank the doctors and nurses of Southampton Memorial Hospital for their loving care while Mary Vaughan was there.
www.wrightfuneralhome.org.