Myra W. Wingate
Published 6:51 pm Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Mrs. Myra Whorton Wingate, age 95, a resident of Bath, and more recently Autumnfield of Belhaven, passed away peacefully Wednesday, September 20, 2017.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM on Friday, September 22, 2017, at the Bath Christian Church and will be officiated by Rev. Jim Cullen and Rev. Curtis White. Burial will follow in Oakdale Cemetery. Starley Stell, Gaylon Ambrose, Billy Hill, Marshall Myers, Tony Day and Billy Wingate will serve as pallbearers.
Mrs. Wingate was born on December 27, 1921, in Pamlico County to Myrtle Jones Whorton and Guy Leon Whorton. On October 27, 1944, she married Halston Gray Wingate, the love of her life. He preceded her in death in 1962.
Mrs. Wingate earned a degree in education from Atlantic Christian College. From there she moved to Bath to begin her lengthy career as a middle school and junior high school teacher at Bath High School and Pinetown School for 34 years. It was during her teaching career that she touched the lives of hundreds of students. Many of those students have kept in touch with Mrs. Wingate over the years with frequent visits, cards and letters.
To the members of the Bath Christian Church, where she was a member for her entire adult life, she was “Mother Myra.” Whether behind the piano, leading a Bible study or counseling other church members, she was a dutiful and faithful Christian. Mrs. Wingate was also an active volunteer in her community, her quilting group, the Historic Bath Garden Club, Beaufort County Mental Health Organization and Bath High School Preservation.
Mrs. Wingate enjoyed visiting with passersby while tending her flower gardens.
She took great pride in her yard and plants. When not in her yard, you could find her playing her piano where she was most at peace.
She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Leon and Alice Wingate, and her daughter, Claudia Alligood. She also leaves behind to mourn her loss, her grandchildren Lynn Wingate Davis and husband Dale and Chad Alligood and wife Melonie; great-grandchildren Gray Wingate Lewis, Caleb Michael Alligood, Clair
Elizabeth Alligood, Luke David Alligood, and Chelsey Parker Davis; in-laws Edna Whorton, Inda Wingate and Merle Wiebers; and numerous nieces and nephews.
In addition to her parents and husband, Mrs. Wingate was predeceased by an infant son, Halston Gray Wingate Jr., her brother Ray Whorton, and a son-in-law Larry Alligood.
A visitation will be held at Bath Christian Church Fellowship Hall from 6:00 until 8:00 on Thursday, September 21, 2017. And, at other times, the family will receive friends at the home of Claudia Alligood, 1255 Hawkins Beach Road, Bath.
Flowers are appreciated, but in lieu of flowers memorials in her memory may be made to Bath Christian Church or the charity of your choice.
Condolences may be made to the family by visiting www.paulfuneralhome.com.
Paul Funeral Home & Crematory of Washington is honored to serve the Wingate family.