Lucile Atkinson

ATKINSON, Lucile McMillin, 86, died Wednesday, December 21, 2011 in Richmond. She was born June 25, 1925 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the youngest daughter of her late parents, Curtis Clark McMillin and Leola Brannon McMillin. A 1942 graduate of Spartanburg High School, she later earned a Converse College Bachelor of Arts degree as well as recognition as "Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges" in 1946. She met her late husband of almost 56 years, Thomas Thweatt Atkinson Jr., when she began her teaching career in Dinwiddie County. Following their 1948 marriage, they resided at the Atkinson family home near McKenney, Virginia for 55 years until moving to Richmond for easier medical care. Over the years, Lucile touched and shaped countless lives through her talents as an inspiring teacher of youth, beginning at Dinwiddie High School and ending at Kenston Forest School of Blackstone, Virginia. She was actively involved as a dedicated member, volunteer and leader of numerous community organizations while raising three children and teaching. As a member of Concord Presbyterian Church for over 50 years, she utilized her extensive musical gifts as faithful organist and choir director, her managerial talents by serving on both the Diaconate and the Session and numerous committees, and her creative energies by planning and executing various large celebrations such as annual Ingatherings and the Septuagesimus Quintuscentennial (175th) Anniversary. "Well done, good and faithful servant." She is survived by her three children and their spouses, Nancy Atkinson Patch and Alexander McCarrel Patch, of Potomac, Maryland, Thomas Thweatt Atkinson III, and Martha Mann Atkinson, of McKenney, Virginia, and Mary Meade Atkinson Sipple and Charles Henry Sipple IV, of Savannah, Georgia. The surviving grandchildren are Sarah Sipple Allman and her husband, Andrew Pope Allman; and her brother, Charles Henry Sipple V, all of Atlanta, Georgia, and Julia McCarrel Patch, William Ashbrook Patch III and Emily King Patch, all of Potomac, Maryland; other survivors include her sister, Virginia McMillin McCown, of Inman, South Carolina; and numerous nieces and nephews. Lucile was preceded in death by her three brothers, Curtis Clark McMillin Jr., James Paul McMillin and John Horace McMillin. A funeral service will be held at Concord Presbyterian Church, 30 Harpers Bridge Road, Rawlings, Virginia 23876 at 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, December 28, 2011. Interment will follow in the adjacent church cemetery with fellowship time after in Concord's Sunday School Building. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts in her memory may be directed to Concord Presbyterian Church Cemetery Fund (Della Tucker, Treasurer), 5119 Rawlings Road, Rawlings, Va. 23876, or to Kenston Forest School, 75 Ridge Road, Blackstone, Va. 23824. Morrissett Funeral Home at 6500 Iron Bridge Road, Richmond, has been entrusted with the arrangements.



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