Helen Spruill Brinkley

Mrs. Helen Spruill Brinkley, age 85, a former resident of Lexington, NC for 80 years died Saturday, January 19, at the Southminster Retirement Community in Charlotte. A memorial service will be held at 2:00 pm on Sunday, January 27, at the First United Methodist Church in Lexington. Private inurnment will be in the Church Columbarium. The family will see friends in the Church Fellowship Hall following the service. A second memorial service will be held on Thursday, January 31, at 4:00 pm at the Southminster Retirement Community in Charlotte. Mrs. Brinkley was born March 5, 1927 in Davidson County to James Franklin Spruill and Mary Flossie Harris Spruill. She graduated from Lexington High School and Salem College and taught public school for five years. She served as a Trustee of Salem College and as President of the Salem College Alumni Association. She was preceded in death by her parents and sister Margaret Spruill Smith. Mrs. Brinkley served on numerous boards and commissions during her lifetime of service to her community. She was the first female to serve on the Lexington City Council and served for 24 years. As an active member of the First United Methodist Church, she served on the Administrative Board and as Chair of the Council of Ministries. She was awarded the Lexington Chamber of Commerce Athena Award, the City of Lexington Uptown Award, and the Lexington Women’s Club Award to Women of Achievement. Mrs. Brinkley served on the Davidson County Welfare Board, the Recreation Commission, the Lexington Civic Center Board, the Uptown Development Board, and the Tourism Board. She was President of the Charity League, President of the Lexington Community Concert Association, President of the local chapter of the American Field Service, head of the Women’s division of the United Way, and helped organize the local Habitat for Humanity. She was a long-time volunteer with the Lexington Memorial Hospital and Contact Ministry. She was preceded in death by a sister, Margaret Spruill Smith. Mrs. Brinkley is survived by her childhood sweetheart and husband of 63 years, Walter Foil Brinkley currently residing in Charlotte; daughters, Margaret Sigmon and Len Brinkley both of Charlotte; sister, Dorothy Haltiwanger, and husband, John, of Rockville, MD; sister-in-law, Bettie Cooper, and husband, Terry, of Alexandria, VA; grandchildren, Alison Parrella and husband Brian, Lee Sigmon and wife Ashley, Ashley Sigmon, John Hackney and wife Tara, and Ann Hackney; great-grandchildren, Samantha Parrella, Henry Sigmon, and Reese Hackney. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Spruill Scholarship Fund of the First United Methodist Church, 310 South Main St, Lexington, NC 27292; or Salem College, 601 South Church Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27010, or Hospice & Palliative Care, 1420 East 7th Street Charlotte, NC 28204.