JANE B. FAGG
Sept. 23, 1937-Nov. 7, 2010
ALBERTSON -- Dr. Jane Bush Fagg, 73, passed away peacefully on Sunday, Nov. 7, 2010, at her home in Snow Hill.
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 17, at 2 p.m. at Holy Innocents Episcopal Church at Moss Hill with Rector Bonnie Clarke officiating. Burial will be alongside her husband and his family in the Simmons Family Cemetery, on the grounds of "Waterloo," her former residence and the ancestral home of her husband.
Dr. Fagg is survived by her only sister, Marion Senkowski of Atlanta, Ga.; three nieces, Margaret Myers of Atlanta, Catherine Bugg of Richmond, Va., and Susan Hall of Smithfield; and her beloved care-giver, B.J. Anglero` and family of Snow Hill.
It was on Sept. 23, 1937 that Jane Bush Fagg was born to the late Harold Lee Bush and Leah Elizabeth Crist Bush, and it was there that she lived throughout her childhood and early adulthood. She entered Emory University in Atlanta, having decided that she would major in the first field in which she excelled. History proved to be that field, winning out over marine biology, which had long fascinated her.
After receiving her bachelor of arts degree from Emory, she traveled to Europe where she found herself very much taken with everything about England. It was then that she decided to make British history the focus of her graduate studies, which continued at Emory. Upon receiving her master's degree, she accepted a teaching position in the public schools in Atlanta, attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the summer months. While continuing her doctoral studies, she taught at Salem College in Winston-Salem. She finished her course work in 1966, and that summer she married Daniel W. Fagg Jr., who later became the first McCain Professor of History at Arkansas College.
In the fall of 1966, as Kennesaw Junior College in Marietta, Ga., opened its doors for the first time, Jane Fagg was a member of the teaching faculty. For the next two years, she taught students, wrote her dissertation, and earned her Ph.D. Then in 1968, when two history positions opened at Arkansas College, also called Lyon College, the couple moved to Batesville, Arkansas, each accepting one of the positions. During her 34-plus years at Arkansas College, Dr. Jane Fagg proved to be a powerful motivator of students. In 1984, she received the Lamar Williamson Prize for Excellence in Teaching. She served on virtually every standing committee of the college and was a former director of the Core Curriculum. She received the Arkansas Historical Association's Lucille Westbrook Award for Best Article in Local History, having published several articles on reconstruction in the Batesville area.
Being the second so-named Paul McCain Professor of History at Arkansas College, she only succeeded her late husband, who held the endowed position until his death in 1991. Following her retirement from Arkansas College in 2002, she enjoyed her subsequent retirement, returning to "Waterloo," their Albertson home, publishing many articles at her leisure, and she was quite influential in the establishment of the Grady-Outlaw Library for the benefit of the Albertson community and Duplin County.
Prior to her death, Dr. Fagg made it known that she preferred no flowers for her service. It was her wish that instead, memorial gifts be made to the Grady-Outlaw Library, c/o Ted K. Grady, 910 Outlaw's Bridge Road, Albertson, NC 28508; the UNC Athletics Department, P.O. Box 2126, Chapel Hill, NC 27515; or to Lyon College Advancement and Office, P.O. Box 2317, Batesville, Ark. 725023.
An acknowledgment of thanks and gratitude is hereby made to Dr. John John and his staff at Eastern Carolina Physicians in Kinston, and to Chuck Skelton and the 3-HC staff for their tireless support, concern and care given to Dr. Fagg during her many months of declining health.
Dr. Jane Fagg will be fondly remembered for her exceptional ability as a teacher to motivate and work with students, often underclass students, women, and minorities, and her steadfast spirit of community service, and her appreciation for the beautiful sights of nature which surrounded her.
A Tyndall Service of Mount Olive.
Online condolence messages may be noted at www.tyndallfh.com.
(Pd)
Published in Obituaries on November 14, 2010 10:46 AM