Peggie Anderson Foster

1930 - 2023

Peggie Anderson Foster

January 12, 1930 - April 18, 2023

Peggie Anderson Foster, a local community activist and philanthropist, died on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. She lived on Foster Street many years and more recently was a resident of Runk & Pratt at Smith Mountain Lake. She enjoyed reasonably good health with a few setbacks until later in life when she'd say, "I'm dealing with what the Good Lord has handed me."

Mrs. Foster was the widow of Herbert "Pete" Foster, a local businessman. She is survived by her twin daughters, Sarah Alice Bartell and Sally Ann Mullikin; son, Peter Gray Foster, five grandchildren and one great grandson. She was born on January 12, 1930, in Knoxville, Tenn., daughter of George William and Sarah Alice Burton Anderson. She recalled that it was a snowy Sunday. Mrs. Foster liked to point out that she was born the same year the Empire State Building was built in New York.

Her siblings were Bill George Anderson who survived Pearl Harbor later lived in Alabama, and Alice Patricia (Coyne) who settled in Roanoke. When the Great Depression came and jobs became scarce, the family moved to Bristol for her father to find work. Her parents had met when her father was editor of the Bristol newspaper and her mother worked there. Mrs. Foster graduated Nazareth Catholic School in Roanoke in 1947. She immediately went to work at C&P Telephone Co. in Roanoke as an operator. There, she met Franklin County resident Ila Jane Perdue (later Shepherd) and they became best friends. Ila Jane invited her to come home with her and she did. "The rest is history," Mrs. Foster liked to say. She would meet her future husband Pete on this trip. He had just come home from military service. "I worked for C&P long enough to make a down payment on a car," she'd say later, "and two more years to pay for it."

She married Pete in 1957 and the newlyweds moved in with his parents in a house on Main Street, Rocky Mount, that later became part of the Rocky Mount Christian Church complex. Their three children would be born in three years. She was a stay-at-home mom and recalled, "I took care of my three biological children and a hundred of somebody else's." The Foster house was a favorite among their children's friends. Mrs. Foster was very active in the children's school events, parents' organizations and more. She was "grade mom" for each of the children. For a short time, while the children were in school, Mrs. Foster worked at a local boutique, Village Fashions. The Fosters were active in Democratic politics, with Mrs. Foster serving in various offices in the local committee. "The job," she said, "was to get money for the cause." She voted from the time she came of age. Mrs. Foster said, "I knew I was a Democrat before I knew there was an Easter Bunny or Santa Claus." She remained a staunch party supporter until her death.

When the Fosters moved from Mr. Foster's family home to make their own, they bought "a whole hillside in Rocky Mount." They sold off a few lots and kept several acres where they built their new house. The area leading into their home later was named Foster Street by the town. After Mr. Foster's death, Mrs. Foster plunged herself into community activities to overcome her grief. She became a fixture and benefactor at the local food bank, Heavenly Manna, making several donations to assist their work. She also joined the Franklin County Historical Society, serving on the board of directors several terms, and, after an automobile accident, reduced her activities to become Director Emeritus to serve many additional years, offering advice and completing various projects aimed at collecting and saving local history. Her donations of land assisted the Historical Society in many endeavors.

Mrs. Foster was proud of her husband's accomplishments as he built his own business from the ground up after buying land in Rocky Mount and establishing Franklin Grocery & Grain Inc. She ran the business during his illness and following his death until 2018. She also learned the timber business so she could sell off land and timber her husband had accumulated in several counties. "He may have had his faults," she said, "but he was a smart businessman. "In later years, Mrs. Foster donated to Habitat for Humanity, Pigg River Community Center and made donations to several area churches. Her philanthropy was not limited to Franklin County. A project close to her heart involved helping a historic African American Fair Grounds, the Powhatan County fair. She funded a fence for the land and was surprised to be feted afterwards with a parade in her honor and being showered with gifts. The recipients of Mrs. Foster's generosity is long, many of the donations made without public fanfare or publicity as she felt it was better to give than receive.

She requested that interested people consider a donation in her memory to the Heavenly Manna food bank in Rocky Mount, Franklin County Historical Society or another charity of choice. Funeral services will be conducted at Flora Funeral Chapel, 11 a.m. Friday, April 21, 2023, with Father Carlos Lerma officiating. Interment will follow in High Street Municipal Cemetery where she will be buried beside her husband. Arrangements by Flora Funeral Service and Cremation Center, Rocky Mount.