And a very Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband, too. Scott turned 35 on Monday!
Here is the biography written about my grandma that was printed for the party:
Ava Gray Turnage Taylor
born January 15, 1922
Ava Gray Turnage started life on a 25-acre tobacco farm in Greene
County, N.C., and for the last 30 years has resided on a tree farm in
Mountville, S.C. Though Ava was the fourth daughter to Reetho and Viola
Turnage, she and her sisters, Helen, Velma, and Ida, worked hard on the
farm. Ava filled the woodbox, cared for the chickens, emptied the slop
jars, and carried the milk bucket to her father—a favorite chore because
she enjoyed precious alone time with him. The Turnages worked the land
to grow tobacco, corn, and cotton using only a mule and a two-mule
cultivator; Reetho didn’t purchase a tractor until after Ava had left
home.
Named for her grandmother Mary Ava Gray, Ava and her three older
sisters shared a room in their four-room farmhouse. Though eventually
two rooms were added as three more children joined the family, Arlendo,
Thomas, and Flora, her childhood home offered no electricity and no
inside bathroom. Ava learned to cook on a wood stove, and by age 10 she
was trying out the cooking skills her mother had carefully taught her,
relieving her mother of many kitchen duties.
Viola also instilled in her children a love for God and His Word.
She had regular devotions with the children as the spiritual leader in
their family. They attended Hull Road Free Will Baptist Church where
their family’s emphasis on living a Christian life would carry through
to Ava’s adult years.
Growing up
Growing up in the community of Arba, Ava traveled unpaved roads on
the school bus to Snow Hill High School where she began her education.
One certain trip on those bumpy roads resulted in Ava’s needing stitches
from having bounced along so fiercely that she hit her head on the top
of the bus. A special memory of hers was attending her oldest sister
Helen’s high school graduation where the senior girls in their organdy
dresses did a Maypole dance. “It was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen
up to that point,” Ava said.
Being a teacher, educated at East Carolina Teachers’ College, Viola
valued education and made sacrifices for her children’s learning. Viola
borrowed $200 so Ava could attend her high school choir’s singing tour.
Viola and Ava’s sister Ida handmade her choir robe—a true labor of love
for Ava who remembers owning only two dresses throughout her preteen and
teenage years. The choir sang in Richmond, Va., Baltimore, and
Washington, D.C., at the White House where Eleanor Roosevelt hosted a
tea for ambassadors and their wives. Ava was quite impressed with the
First Lady. Their final stop was New York City during the World’s Fair.
Though the choir tour was Ava’s first time out of North Carolina, her
love for travel had just begun.
Following graduation, Ava completed a course in business offered at
the local high school, and her first job resulted from a federal program
begun during the Great Depression. Earning $20 for each two-week
period, Ava worked for a tax collector for two weeks, alternating with
another employee who worked the next two weeks.
On her own…but not for long
Ava left her home, traveling by bus to Newport News, Va., where she
stayed with her sister Ida and her husband until she found employment as
a key-punch operator with the Newport News Ship Building and Dry Dock
Company. She rented a room from a couple who lived beside Milton and
Jesse Smith—Dalton Taylor’s aunt and uncle. In December 1942 the Smiths
happily introduced their young, attractive neighbor to their nephew
stationed at Langley Field. Ava and Dalton wed on September 17, 1943
just three months prior to his leaving for North Africa during World War
II.
Family life
While Dalton spent nearly two years serving during the war, Ava
worked at the Port of Embarkation, and Uncle Milton taught her to drive.
Dalton returned in September of 1945 resuming his job with the C&P
Telephone Company in Newport News. They eventually settled in Colonial
Heights, Va., where family life kept Ava busy with the births of Judy
Dalton (1950), Dale Travis (1951), and Linda Elaine (1955).
Once the children started school, Ava worked some to help with
expenses. When it was Linda’s turn for kindergarten, Ava drove the
family station wagon that Dalton retrofitted with extra seating to
accommodate neighborhood children also. Her carpool earnings paid for
Linda’s tuition and gave Ava enough extra to buy herself a “white spring
coat.” Other jobs tapped her cooking skills including an
elementary-school-cafeteria cook and food-service coordinator for a
large church daycare center.
The Taylors attended Colonial Heights
Baptist Church where Ava helped begin the church’s library, and she
served as librarian until they moved. Ava volunteered her time teaching
English to Asian women married to U.S. servicemen at Fort Lee, Va. She
developed lasting friendships during those five years.
Dalton shared Ava’s desire to travel, and the family visited all but
three states while the kids were living at home—though their shoestring
budget usually meant camping along the way. The couple also enjoyed
traveling in style once the kids left, visiting the Pacific Northwest,
Alaska, Vermont’s Von Trapp Family Lodge, Mackinac Island, Nova Scotia,
and Prince Edward Island to list a few.
Back to farm life
Dalton retired in 1981 and the empty-nesters moved to Mountville,
S.C., in 1983 to help Dale with his newly created Christmas tree farm.
Ava was able to dote on her grandchildren, Gray and Travis who now lived
close, as well as Judy’s children Caitlin, Tristan, and Karsten, and
Linda’s daughter Amanda. Ava and Dalton quickly immersed themselves in
church life at First Baptist of Clinton, S.C. Ava continues to be
active in her church singing in the choir and enjoying the senior
group’s activities. She’s also active with the senior groups at both
Mountville Baptist and Cross Hill Baptist, and she’s part of the
Mountville Grange and the Red Hat Society.
Ava continues to give special time and attention to her family and
friends. After 70 years she still corresponds with her old roommate
Alice from Newport News and her dear friend Myrtle in Colonial Heights.
Ava regularly visits friends and church members in nursing-care
facilities and retirement homes who are unable to attend services. She
gives feet to her faith as an encourager, not wanting anyone to feel
forgotten—and no one does: Embracing new technology and “free minutes,”
Ava spends many nights on her cell phone checking in with friends and
family scattered around the nation.
