Candace Elizabeth McGrath

Candace Elizabeth McGrath, better known as Candy, was born in Jacksonville, FL on Feb 1, 1951 to Lucious Alton Driggers, Jr and Elizabeth Ruf Driggers and passed away peacefully on Nov 27, 2023 with her husband of 52 years, Chuck, and their daughters Jonelle 'Jonie' Brittain and Colleen 'CJ' Eckhart at her bedside. She was very proud of her life associated with the military as she was a USAF veteran, Chuck was a USAF retiree, her father was a retired Coast Guard CWO4, and her mother served in the Coast Guard in WW II. Candy and Chuck met while attending medical school at Shephard AFB in Texas where Candy was in training as a USAF medic and Chuck was preparing to be a Pararescue Specialist. They were married seven months later and are Southeast Asia veterans who spent their first year of marriage serving in Thailand during the Vietnam War. Very, very few married couples served in Southeast Asia at the same time and Candy was one of an extremely limited number of enlisted women. Later assignments took them to Hawaii, Kansas, Northern and Southern Virginia. She was required to leave the Air Force when Jonie was born - policies were much different back then.

After moving to Virginia, Candy earned her Real Estate Sales Associate license and later became a Managing Broker, working within various companies in Virginia Beach. She returned to Florida from 2003 to 2013, where she managed real estate offices and eventually started her own company, then semi-retired after returning to Virginia Beach in 2013. She loved to travel, and especially enjoyed cruises with Disney and visits to Disneyworld.

Candy is predeceased by her parents and older brother 'Little Al' and is survived by her husband, daughters, son-in-law Ryan Eckhart, grandchildren Chase and Molly Brittain, sister Christine White and her husband Randy, numerous in-laws, nieces and nephews.

A memorial service is planned for 10:00 am on Dec 4, 2023 at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church, 1958 Sandbridge Rd, Virginia Bch, VA 23456. Burial will take place on a later date at Arlington National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers please consider donating to Military Women's Memorial, of which Candy was a Charter Member, at https://womensmemorial.org. Online condolences may be offered to the family at hdoliver.com.