|
VIRGIE NAYLOR SMITH
remembers .... |
|
|
VIRGIE NAYLOR SMITH
remembers .... |
|
LEXIE FERREL WAS ONE OF MY BRIGHT DANCYVILLE PUPILS, WHO MADE ME VERY PROUD, A FEW YEARS LATER. SHE WAS THE OLDEST OF TEN CHILDREN. SHE READ SO WELL I SKIPPED HER FROM FIRST TO SECOND GRADE, WHICH MEANT SHE WAS READY FOR COLLEGE IN TEN YEARS.
AT CHRISTMAS TIME IN 1939 I BROUGHT HER HOME WITH ME TO HELP WITH MY ONE YEAR OLD CHARLIE, WHILE I WAS WORKING ON MY MASTERS DEGREE AT PEABODY COLLEGE. SHE BEGAN STUDYING NIGHTS IN A FREE BUSINESS SCHOOL. WHEN I GRADUATED IN AUGUST 1940, SHE WAS READY TO REGISTER AT PEABODY AND QUALIFIED TO BE A SECRETARY TO A COLLEGE PROFESSOR TO PAY HER TUITION. SHE HELD THAT JOB THE ENTIRE FOUR YEARS. SHE LIVED WITH US UNTIL HER SECOND YEAR IN COLLEGE, WHEN SHE WENT TO HELP WITH TWO ADOPTED, SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN, IN THE HOME OF DR. E. O. HARBIN, DIRECTOR OF RECREATION IN THE METHODIST CHURCH. THEY SPENT SUMMERS AT LAKE JUNALUSKA, N. C., WHERE LEXIE LEARNED TO DIRECT RECREATION. FOR HER LAST TWO YEARS AT PEABODY SHE MOVED INTO THE DORM AND TOOK A JOB IN THE FOOD DEPARTMENT TO PAY HER ROOM AND BOARD. I REMEMBER HER COMMENT TO ME, "AND I CAN EAT ALL I WANT."
LEXIE GRADUATED WITH THE HIGHEST HONOR,
"THE SULLIVAN AWARD." HER FIRST JOB WAS
DIRECTING RECREATION FOR THE BAPTIST CHURCH IN
THE NEW YORK AREA. SHE WENT ON TO A
BRILLIANT CAREER, ENDING UP TEACHING IN
COLORADO. SHE MARRIED PHILIP CRAIG AND HAD THREE
CHILDREN; DOUGLAS, LAURIE AND BARBARA. IN
RECENT YEARS I PROPOSED HER FOR THE
OUTSTANDING ALUMNA WHICH PEABODY NAMES EACH
YEAR AND I GAVE THEM A STACK OF
CLIPPINGS ABOUT HER ACTIVITIES, BUT THEY DID
NOT FOLLOW UP ON THIS. SHE CONTINUED TO
COME TO SEE ME EVERY YEAR, WHEN SHE VISITED
HER FAMILY IN DANCYVILLE, AS LONG AS SHE LIVED.
GO HERE FOR LEXIE FERRELL CRAIG IN WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA ~ 1995
THANKS TO VIRGINIA NAYLOR SMITH FOR THIS TRIBUTE TO LEXIE FERRELL GRAIG.
BACK TO VIRGIE NAYLOR SMITH REMEMBERS
