Emma Meagher Ray

Emma Meagher Ray of Lexington, NC went to be with her Lord and Savior on February 6, 2022, after an extended illness.

A funeral service will be held at 2 pm on Friday, February 11, 2022, in the Davidson Funeral Home, Lexington Chapel with the Revs. Nick Atkins, Jr., Ted Ray, Jr., and Jimmy Tatum officiating. Burial will follow at Mountain View Memorial Gardens in Denton.

The family will receive friends from 1 pm until 2 pm prior to the service at the Funeral Home.

Facial coverings are strongly suggested.

Mrs. Ray was born on March 3, 1933, in Montgomery, AL to Emma Orie Kemp and Eugene L. Meagher. She was a charter member of Victory Holiness Church in Lexington, NC where she served as adult Sunday school teacher. She graduated from Mercy Hospital School of nursing as a RN in 1954. She was very instrumental in the early years of her nursing career in coronary care helping to set up the first coronary care unit at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, NC.  She was also a charge nurse in the first intensive care unit at Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem, NC in the early 60’s. She taught CPR, basic EKG, and emergency equipment at Moses Cone and Wesley Long Hospitals through the heart Association and assisted in the development of the EMT program.  For a couple of decades she was a loyal employee of The Evergreen Inc. serving in many capacities: as a supervisor, director of nursing and director of marketing, also administrator in training, with her NC administrators license and where Evergreens became her work family. She also served on the Guilford County Mayors committee for persons of disability for multiple years. Her dedication for nursing and superior patient care was only surpassed by her love for her family. She was a dedicated Mother, Grandmother, and Great Grandmother and poured her heart into taking care of her son with Cerebral Palsy for 66 years. She was a dedicated matriarch and pioneer of Victory Holiness Church in Lexington NC and enjoyed over 50 years of a dedicated service to the Lord where she taught adult Sunday school.   Additionally, she enjoyed collecting cookbooks, walking on the seashore collecting seashells, quilting, reading her bible, and an astute appreciation for gospel music. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death her husband Ted H. Ray S.R. of 62 years; her grandson, Rev. Ray Jesse Atkins; and her twin sister Jean M. Reagan.

Those left to carry on her legacy are her loving children, Rev. Ted. H. Ray Jr., and Debbie Ray Atkins both of the home; grandson, Rev. Nick Atkins, Jr. and wife Kim of Lexington; Jonnell Atkins, wife of deceased grandson Rev. Ray Jesse Atkins of Sumter, SC; great-grandchildren, Jessa Abigail Atkins, Nicki Tyler Atkins, Ava Rose Atkins, and Hampton Ray Atkins; and a host of supportive nieces, nephews, friends, and extended family.

Memorials may be directed to Victory Holiness Church at 8876 NC-8, Lexington, NC 27292.