Lewisburg-Margie Lewis Hammond, 93, passed peacefully into eternal life on Monday, July 25, 2022, at English Meadows Assisted Living in Scott Depot, WV.
She was born Feb. 17, 1929, at her maternal grandmother’s house in Richwood, the eldest of three children of of Walter N. Lewis and Leta Barr Lewis. Her grandmother, Hanna McElwee Barr, who shared a birthday with her, assisted with the delivery with no doctor present.
Due to the Great Depression and the need to find work, her parents moved several times while she was young. She lived as a child in Spring Creek, Friars Hill, East Rainelle, and finally, just north of Lewisburg. Her young life was difficult, without the comforts that would make it seem foreign even to her own children, yet she looked back with joy on a time lived without so much as running water or central heat. She excelled as a student and graduated from Lewisburg High School as Salutatorian of the Class of 1947. She then attended Berea College in Berea, KY, as the first member of her family ever to attend college. While a sophomore at Berea, she became active in Berea Baptist Church, where she met Pastor O. B. Mylum. With Rev. Mylum’s guidance, she made a profession of faith, and she lived the remainder of her life in the strong assurance of the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
She graduated from Berea College with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration on June 4, 1951. While a student at Berea, she met a young Army veteran and fellow student named Francis Hammond, whom she married as her forever partner on Feb. 22, 1952. They had three sons while living in Berea following graduation from college. She began her lifelong career as a teacher in the fall of 1951 at Mason High School in Williamstown, KY. After marriage, she taught at several schools near Berea, including Kingston High School, Waco High School, and Madison Central High School. In the summer of 1964, Margie and Francis moved to Lewisburg with their young family and purchased the home on Holt Lane where they lived out their life together. In the fall of 1964, she joined the faculty at her alma mater, Lewisburg High School, where she proudly taught the first year the school was integrated. She remained at Lewisburg until Greenbrier East High School opened in the fall of 1968. She taught at Greenbrier East until she retired, and she enjoyed seeing and hearing from her former students for the rest of her days. Margie and Francis made their church home at First Baptist Church of Fairlea, where she was a member for more than 50 years.
After retirement, Margie and Francis traveled widely in the United States and Canada, and she lavished attention on her grandchildren and, later, her great-grandchildren. Francis left this life on Apr. 4, 2010, and she missed him every day thereafter.
In addition to her parents and husband, she was predeceased by her second son, Donald Hammond, in 2016. She is survived by her son, Robert Hammond and wife Lorrie, and son, David Hammond and wife Jody, all of Lewisburg, as well as three grandchildren, four step-grandchildren, and oodles of great-grandchildren, all of whom she loved with her whole heart.
A celebration of her earthly and eternal life will be held on Saturday, July 30, at 11 a.m., at Wallace & Wallace Funeral Home, Lewisburg, with The Rev. Dallas Smith officiating. Visitation will precede the funeral at 10 a.m. at the funeral home.
The family encourages gifts in memory of Margie’s life be donated to First Baptist Church of Fairlea, 9146 Seneca Trail, Ronceverte, WV 24970.
Wallace & Wallace Funeral Home in Lewisburg is in charge of arrangements.
Please send online condolences by visiting: www.WallaceandWallaceFH.com
