Lena Shoaf

Lena Brown Shoaf passed away on September 2, 2025 at the age of 102.  The youngest of four children, Lena was born on October 30, 1922 to Lincoln and Lucy Brown in Sandy Ridge, NC. Growing up on a tobacco farm during the Depression, she was shaped by those experiences and learned perseverance, resilience, and adaptability at a very young age.  Those qualities would serve her well during her long life, as she showed grace and grit with every challenge she faced.

After high school, Lena headed to Appalachian State University from 1942-46, where she majored in Home Economics and was elected May Queen her senior year.  She met her husband Wayne during those years and while their courtship was interrupted by WWII, they married upon his return and settled in the Tyro community, where they raised their two children, Marianne and Stephen, and were active in St. Luke’s Lutheran Church. Before Wayne’s death in 2019, they celebrated 70 years of marriage.

Lena was a lifelong educator, impacting hundreds of young lives.  She worked as a 4-H extension agent, principal, high school home economics teacher, and 4th grade elementary school teacher, serving in the Davidson County Schools for 26 years.  While she never sought the spotlight, Lena’s commitment to and influence on her students was far reaching.  Long after she retired, former students would seek her out and thank her for the life lessons she had taught them. Remarkably, she would remember their names well into her 90’s and would share some specific story about their time in her classroom.  She took children on countless field trips, paid for excursions to the circus, handed out candy for good behavior and always took orders for UNC memorabilia when she headed to football and basketball games in Chapel Hill.  She loved watching her student’s faces light up when they mastered a new skill and the esteem in which they held her spoke to her love of teaching.

She reserved her most important life lessons for her children and grandchildren. Lena instilled in them a deep faith in God, a strong sense of compassion, responsibility, generosity of spirit and an overall attitude that when hard things happen, you face them with determination and courage.  She was an amazing mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, leaving behind a beautiful legacy to those who love her.

She leaves behind her children, Marianne (Walker) and Stephen (Sharon), grandchildren Chris (Kristina) Weatherly, Laura (Kevin) Gallagher, Caroline Weatherly, Tyler (Alex) Shoaf, and Troy Shoaf. Lena also lived long enough to meet her three great grandchildren: Peyton Weatherly, Lola Weatherly, and Charlotte Shoaf.

The family will hold a memorial service on October 25 at 1:00 pm at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Tyro and will greet friends afterwards in the Vanderford Fellowship Hall.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, 4299 S. North Carolina Hwy 150, Lexington, NC  27295.