Alice Caroline Rakestraw Wray

Madison-Alice Caroline Rakestraw Wray, 79, of 640 Eagle Falls Road died peacefully surrounded by her loving family on Friday, March 4, 2011. Funeral Services will be held 2:00 PM Monday, March 7, 2011 at Smyrna Presbyterian Church where she was a member. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. A native of Rockingham County, she devoted her life to the service of her family. Alice was a wonderful wife, mother, and grandmother. As a homemaker, she took pride in her love of gardening and canning vegetables. She was a meticulous seamstress, making clothes for her children and friends. She loved making yo-yo quilts and made one for each of her six children and ten grandchildren. Later in life, she developed a love for antique shopping. She loved the thrill of the hunt and the negotiating that followed. During their life together, Alice and her husband enjoyed spending time at the beach, surf fishing and hunting for shells. Alice was preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, Charles H. Wray, her parents Mr. Lawson P. and Mrs. Nannie Bolden Rakestraw, brother Price Rakestraw, and sister, Cordell Landreth. Those left to cherish her memory are her six children: Wayne Wray and wife, Ruth, Bonnie Joyce and husband, RL, Deonne Walker, Gary Wray, Renae Gregg, and Pam Martin and husband Sam, all of Rockingham County; her ten grandchildren, Kyle Joyce (Brenda), Kimberly McMichael (Penn), Susan Wray, Megan Matthews (Brad), Heather Lawson, Kevin Gregg (Katy), Miranda Surles (Jeffery), Caroline Jones (Jimmy), Rusty Gregg, Jonathan Watkins (Mary), Dean Hayden (Robin), Dawn Cain (Mike), Jeff Hayden (Christy) ; great grandchildren and several step grandchildren. She also was survived by her brother, Paul Rakestraw (Sherry) of Canton, GA; her sisters Adell Barker and Judy Ivey (Al); sister-in-law, Sarah Rakestraw; her cherished cousin, Virginia Bolden Truitt an numerous nieces and nephews. The family will receive friends at Wilkerson Funeral Home from 6-8 pm on Sunday, March 6, 2011, and other times at her home. Memorials may be made to Smyrna Presbyterian Church cemetery fund, 3350 Hwy NC 65, Reidsville, NC 27320.