Muriel Whitehurst Spain

SPAIN, Muriel Whitehurst, 85, widow of Richard Thomas Spain Jr., died at her beloved Homeville home on Saturday, February 7, 2009. Born November 20, 1923 in South Mills, N.C., she was the daughter of the late Sam Burnham Whitehurst and Gertrude Hodges Whitehurst. She graduated from South Mills High School, and was a 1943 graduate of Louisburg College with a Associate of Arts Degree. She received her B.S. degree in Elementary Education in 1945 from East Carolina Teachers College, now East Carolina University. After graduation, she taught elementary education in Bayside Elementay School in Norfolk. After her marriage to Richard, she began to teach elementary education at Waverly High School, until she retired in 1952. She was a member of the Oak Grove United Methodist Church, Waverly, and a former member and Worthy Matron of the Waverly Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star. She was a former member of the Waverly Women's Club. Her husband, Richard, was the former owner of Spain Lumber Company in Wakefield and a board member of the Virginia Game Commission. With her husband, Mrs. Spain donated the Spain Conference Building to the 4-H Airfield Conference Center in Wakefield. Following Richard's death, she donated her one-half ownership of the building to the Wakefield Foundation of the Arts. The Foundation named the Spain Auditorium in their honor. She is survived by two sons, Richard Thomas Spain III and his wife, Gloria Davis Spain, of Midlothian, and Michael Whitehurst Spain of Waverly; and grandchildren, Richard Thomas Spain IV, Samantha Stephenson Spain and Michael Thomas Spain. She was predeceased by her brother, Howard Whitehurst. A funeral service will be held in Waverly United Methodist Church on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 3 p.m. by Rev. Connie Gibbs-Morris. The family will receive friends at the church from 2 to 3 p.m. on the afternoon of the service. Burial will be in the Waverly Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations be made to Waverly Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 583, Waverly, Va. 23890. Arrangements are being handled by the Purviance Chapel of J.T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home in Wakefield. Condolences may be posted to our website at www.jtmorriss.com.


This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.