Calhoun, Lucille Graves

Lucille Graves Calhoun, 89, passed into the arms of our Lord on November 8, 2010. The daughter of Jack and Mary Tinsley Graves, Lucille was born near Lebanon, Tennessee, and grew up in the middle Tennessee area around Nashville.

She received her education at David Lipscomb College, Cornell, and the University of Tennessee, where she played on the women’s basketball team. She came to Virginia as an extension specialist at Virginia Tech, working primarily with the 4H program. It was there that she met and married J. Lawrence Calhoun, better known as “Cal.” Lucille was an active and faithful member of the Blacksburg Church of Christ since its earliest days. She taught or assisted in many of the children’s classes and in Vacation Bible School. She was an encouragement to each of her students. She was known most for teaching by example, as she was a model for those who wanted to follow the Christian life. Lucille was active in many community activities, especially the local Mental Health Association, in which she not only served as president, but also became a familiar face visiting patients at Southwestern State and Catawba Hospitals. She took a personal interest in their well-being and worked on their behalf during their hospitalization and after their return home, often providing transportation for others to visit loved ones. A past president of the Mountain View Garden Club, she was also an avid bridge player. Lucille was a friend to any who needed one, paying visits to newcomers to Blacksburg with a bouquet of homegrown flowers. She always ministered to the elderly of the community, assisting the ill, the poor, and the poor in spirit. She stayed in contact with missionaries around the world. She boxed and mailed many pounds of clothes to the needy in India and Nigeria. Lucille and Cal were also known as avid sports fans, especially of Virginia Tech Football and women’s basketball and held season tickets in both sports. Lucille was survived by several nieces and nephews: Beulah G. Bailey, of Princeton, W.Va., Rosamond C. McCarty and Carolyn C. Jones, of Marion, Va., Judy Ross, of Columbus, Ohio, Thomas Calhoun, of Bethesda, Md., Thomas Renaud, of Dayton Ohio; and numerous great-nieces and nephews. Family and friends may gather at McCoy Funeral Home at 10 a.m. Wednesday. A graveside service will follow at 11 a.m. at Westview Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to the W.E. Skelton 4-H Educational Conference Center, 775 Hermitage Rd. Wirtz, Va. 24184 for summer camps, or the Mental Health Association of the New River Valley, 303 Church Street, Blacksburg, Va. 24060. Arrangements by McCoy Funeral Home Blacksburg.