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ELLA GRACE WRIGHT STAFFORD
Ella Grace Wright Stafford

Grace Stafford of Greensboro NC, formerly of Louisburg NC, died on March 12, 2020. A memorial service will be held Saturday on March 12, 2022 at 11:00 A.M. at Louisburg United Methodist Church, officiated by Rev. Mike Safley.

Grace was born to Carl K. Wright and Iva H. Wright on September 24, 1938 in Lake Landing, Hyde County, North Carolina. Her father, a Methodist minister, served a number of churches in eastern North Carolina during her youth. She graduated from Rockingham High School in 1956 and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Greensboro College in 1960 with a double major in English and Religion-Philosophy.

After four years working for the Cokesbury Division of the Methodist Publishing House in Richmond, Virginia, Grace married Sidney E. Stafford, a United Methodist minister in North Carolina, and they made their first home in Chapel Hill. Following the birth of their first child, they moved to Louisburg, where Sidney served as chaplain and professor of religion/philosophy at Louisburg College.

In August of 1967, shortly after their move, Grace was approached by the Franklin County school system and asked to teach and serve as school librarian in the all-black Perry's High School near Centerville. At that time, the Franklin County school system was operating under a Federal court order which required all county school faculties to be integrated, in preparation for the integration of the student body in the 1968-69 school year. Being a proponent of school integration, she accepted the challenge but left after one year as her family grew.

In 1972 Grace accepted a teaching position at Edward Best High School as a resource teacher working with seventh and eighth grade students, later teaching English, French and journalism. In 1978 she was transferred to Louisburg High School where she taught until her retirement.

Grace was always eager to improve her teaching skills and for many years attended the North Carolina English Teachers Conference. She encouraged her fellow English teachers to do this as well, and it became an event to which they all looked forward. For many years, she served as Chairman of the English Department at LHS and was the first Mentor Teacher at the school. She was honored twice as the LHS Teacher of the Year and was once named Franklin County Language Arts Teacher of the Year. Grace was an excellent teacher and touched the lives of many students. Following her retirement in 1999, Grace worked four years in the writing center at Louisburg College and was editor of the college's self- study document for one year.

Grace loved to sing and sang with the Northeast Piedmont Chorale, the Louisburg United Methodist Church choir and with a group she formed called The Grace Notes. She occasionally sang as a soprano soloist in other venues.

Grace's greatest love, of course, was her husband and their family. Together, they had four children and eleven grandchildren. Throughout her life, she supported her husband in his many activities, including his work with Louisburg College, the United Methodist Church, and many civic and community organizations. She saw her job as keeping home and family connected and running smoothly so that he could concentrate on his many professional and civic responsibilities.

Grace was also the family genealogist and spent a great deal of time researching her Wright family and the Stafford family. In 2001, she wrote a book called "Abraham Stafford of 1776: His Family in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama" which she distributed among interested family members.

Grace was preceded in death by her husband and is survived by four children and eleven grandchildren: Sidney E. Stafford, Jr. and wife Lori of Hillsborough, NC, and their children Taylor, Colin and Ben; Carl M. Stafford and wife Melissa of Sharon, MA, and their children Ethan, John, Aaron and Jack; Charles K. Stafford and wife Carrie of Apex, NC and their children Ella and Connor; and Laura Suzanne Stafford of Greensboro, NC and her children Ollie and Fern Murray. She is also survived by her sister, Jo Cole and her husband Don, of Norfolk, VA; her brother George T. Wright and wife Rose of Point Roberts, WA; and her brother John S. Wright and wife Paula of Wilson, NC and two nieces and a nephew.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Louisburg College or Louisburg United Methodist Church.

Arrangements are by Strickland Funeral Home & Crematory, Louisburg, www.stricklandfuneralhome.net.


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