Melanie Graybill Terry, a resident of the Brandon Oaks Community in Roanoke, Virginia, died on May 20. She was 103.
She was born in Roanoke, Virginia, on February 12, 1920, the daughter of Rose Redmond and Daniel Cline Graybill. She was a graduate of Jefferson High School and the University of Virginia Hospital School of Nursing.
She married Malcolm White Terry on December 29, 1941, moving with her husband to his hometown of Southampton at the end of World War II. They were married for 66 years, until his death in 2006.
As the wife of a Southampton businessman, she became very involved in many community activities, among them the Girl Scouts, a sewing club, and volunteering at the hospital. She organized the Southampton Cotillion Club, becoming its first president. She also organized the Friends of the Rogers Memorial Library to create a fund for a new public library — standing today on Coopers Farm Road.
As a member of the Southampton Presbyterian Church, she served on various committees and as president of the Presbyterian Women. She was ordained as an elder, becoming the first woman elder in the church founded in 1640. She enjoyed her church life and close friends.
She is survived by her children, Carole Ruth Terry and her husband Alan Lewis Fine, Malcolm Ross Terry and his wife Theresa Marie Terry; her grandchildren, Malcolm Lee Terry, David Terry Fine and his wife Clare Richardson, Laura Terry Fine and her husband Seth Kleinerman; her great-grandchildren Eve and Cash; nephew John Redmond Graybill Jr. and his wife Jessie Holton Graybill and their children Jack Graybill and Margeau Graybill; and her niece Melanie S. Bell.
A memorial service was held at Brandon Oaks on June 3.
Interment was private.
Staff Writer on Jul 31, 2023