RACHEL FOX
MOUNT OLIVE -- Rachel Elizabeth Duncan Fox, 83, of 923 S. Center Street, died last Thursday at Kitty Askins Hospice Center.
A funeral service will be held on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Payne Temple A.M.E. Zion Church, with the Reverend Johnny Murphy officiating. Burial will be at Wayne Memorial Park.
A native of Laurens County, South Carolina, Mrs. Fox was the daughter of the late Washington and Emma Belle Ferguson Duncan. Following graduation from Bell Street School in Clinton, South Carolina, she attended (then) North Carolina A&T College, where she met her future husband, the late Carl L. Fox. She graduated in 1942 with a degree in Home Economics.
She began her teaching career in South Carolina before settling in North Carolina permanently. She taught at Pikeville Training School, Randolph Training School and Carver High School before her assignment to Southern Wayne High School, from which she retired in 1984.
She became a member of Payne Temple Church in 1958 and served faithfully in a number of capacities there until October of this year. She was a member of many professional and civic organizations over the years and was a strong and persistent community advocate. She was a co-founder of the Clinton, South Carolina Family Reunion, one of the largest family reunions in the country. Most importantly, she was a devoted and loving mother to her natural children and a second mother to so many others in whose lives she was a much-cherished influence.
Mrs. Fox was preceded in death by her older daughter, Dr. Janice M. Fox.
She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Carl R. and Valerie Stafford Fox, of Chapel Hill; son, Michael Fox, of Charlotte; daughter, Angela Fox, of the home; brother and sister-in-law, George and Jesse Duncan, of Brooklyn, New York; sister-in-law, V. Louise Duncan of Brooklyn, New York; and many, many beloved relatives and friends.
The family will receive friends at Payne Temple Church on Friday from 7 to 8 p.m. Public viewing will be from 3 to 6 p.m. on Friday, and one hour prior to the funeral service.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Payne Temple A.M.E. Zion Church, P.O. Box 321, Mount Olive,, N.C., 28365.
The family is being served by Garris Funeral Home.
(Written & Paid by the Family)
Published in Obituaries on December 2, 2004 1:47 PM