Hannah B. BOATWRIGHT

NEWPORT NEWS - Hannah Barnett Campbell Boatwright (Mrs. Wesley Alexander Boatwright) died Thursday, June 2, in her sleep at her residence in Newport News, Va. She was 88 years old and had been living at the Chesapeake Retirement Community since 2003.
Mrs. Boatwright was the wife of the late Dr. Wesley Alexander Boatwright and the only daughter of the Rev. Lloyd Cook Campbell and his wife, Archie Pauline Blain Campbell. Mrs. Boatwright was born Nov. 25, 1922, in Fayetteville, N.C., where her father was the minister of the Presbyterian Church in Fountain, N.C. Mrs. Boatwright moved to Stanton, Va., after her father's death in 1927 and grew up there. She attended her first grade of school at Mary Baldwin Seminary, which later became Mary Baldwin College. She later returned and graduated from Mary Baldwin College in 1942, with a 4-year B.A. degree in Religion and a minor in English. She considered Mary Baldwin to be her Alpha and her Omega with respect to education.
For two years after college she taught school at Short Pump near Richmond, Va., and then she accepted a position as a copy and proof reader in Richmond at the Board of Christian Education of the Presbyterian Church. She returned to Staunton in 1948 and accepted a position at Mary Baldwin College as secretary to the President and to the Dean of the College. She continued in this position for seven years and then was made the Alumnae Secretary. As part of her responsibilities, she traveled to Norfolk and Newport News every year to attend College Days and talk with high school students about Mary Baldwin College.
In the fall of 1960, an alumnae friend and Peninsula resident, Emma Fitzhugh, introduced her to her future husband, Dr. Wesley Alexander Boatwright, a local dentist and native of the Peninsula. They were married on Oct. 21, 1961, at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Va.
Residing in the Hidenwood area of Newport News, Mrs. Boatwright was an active member of Hidenwood Presbyterian Church, where she taught Sunday school and sang in the choir for 40+ years. She was a member of the Virginia PEO Chapter AG, an active volunteer with the Meals On Wheels program until she was 83, and tutored disadvantaged children. Additionally, Mrs. Boatwright was a member of the James River Country Club where she played tennis until she was 84 years old. She was a member of and sang in the Virginia Choral Society and was active in her local Garden Club.
Mrs. Boatwright was preceded in death by her husband in 1997.
Survivors include her son, Wesley Campbell Boatwright and his wife, Mona Lewis Boatwright of Washington, D.C.; and two grandchildren, Mary Elizabeth Lewis Boatwright and Virginia Leake Boatwright, both of Washington, D.C.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on June 17, at Hidenwood Presbyterian Church in Newport News with the Rev. William Lamont officiating. A reception will follow at the James River Country Club.
In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Hidenwood Presbyterian Church, 414 Hiden Blvd., Newport News, VA 23606.
Peninsula Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. View and post condolences on our online guestbook at dailypress.com/guestbooks.