DR. VIRGINIA SANFORD MANGUM
Sept. 15, 1919-Feb. 23, 2012
Dr. Virginia Sanford Mangum passed away on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012.
A memorial service will be held Monday, Feb. 27, 2012, at 11 a.m. at St. Paul United Methodist Church with the Rev. James Harry officiating. The family will receive friends in the church parlor following the service.
Dr. Sanford was the daughter of James Kendrick Sanford and Sarah Ruth Hall Sanford and was born in Greensboro on Sept. 15, 1919. She graduated from Curry High School in Greensboro and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Women's College (now UNC Greensboro). Following graduation from college, she served as a volunteer with the American Red Cross in Landsberg am Lech, Germany from 1944-1945. Upon her return to the United States, she taught biology, chemistry and physiology at Sullins Junior College in Bristol, Va. She attended Duke University Medical School and graduated with her M.D. degree in 1956. It was at Duke that she met her future husband, Dr. Vernon P. Mangum. They were married on Sept. 24, 1955. Both she and her husband completed medical residency programs at Duke University in Pediatrics. After residency, she and her husband opened a pediatric practice in Hamlet. In 1959, they relocated to Goldsboro and Dr. Sanford became a staff pediatrician at O'Berry Center. She opened a medical practice in 1971 and served the Goldsboro community until her retirement from medicine in June of 2010.
During her career she worked selflessly to promote the well being of her fellow man. She was a major force behind the creation and success of the local Head Start and Follow Through Programs in Goldsboro. She served on the advisory board for the Nursing Program at Wayne Community College during its early years. She had a passion for education and social justice and never backed away from an opportunity to help another individual. Over her many years in Goldsboro, she was involved with the Cub Scout and Girl Scout programs, the PTA, the Wayne County Medical Society, St. Paul United Methodist Church, the Goldsboro Art League and community theater productions, including the Gold Stocking Revue.
She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, James Sanford Mangum and Patty Lynch Mangum of Wilmington; her daughter and son-in-law, Sarah Rose Mangum Needham and Greg Needham; a grandson, Austin Mangum Needham and a granddaughter, Sarah Elizabeth Needham, all of Greenville.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Goldsboro Humane Society, P.O. Box 821, Goldsboro, NC 27533, or to St. Paul United Methodist Church, 204 E. Chestnut St., Goldsboro, NC 27530.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.seymourfuneralhome.com.
(Pd)
Published in Obituaries on February 26, 2012 8:11 AM