May, Noah

Noah May, 98, of Bland, went to be with his Lord on August 14, 2013. He was born in Pike County, Ky. on August 23, 1914, to the late George Washington May and Nora Purusia Meade May. He was preceded in death by his wife of 48 years, Daisy Leslie May and grandson, Darrel Kent Burton. He was also preceded in death by four brothers, Jesse May, John Thomas May, Ireland T. May, and Paul May; two sisters Georgia May Green and Blanch May Scott.

In his early life living in Kentucky, he spent time sitting on the porch playing music with his brothers and working in coal mines as small as 18 inches wide. He came to Virginia in 1940 to apply for employment at the Radford Arsenal, where he worked for a total of I5 years. The Arsenal closed after World War Il, and he then went to Flint, Mich. to work at the Chevrolet factory for two years. In 1948, when the Radford Arsenal reopened, he went back there to work. He and his family moved to Bland County from Prices Fork at that time, where he bought his first farm in 1941. That was the first of several parcels of land that he purchased. He and wife Daisy operated a Grade ‘A’ dairy farm for many years after he quit public work in 1959. He is survived by his wife Louise May; one daughter Annette May Burton; one son and daughter-in-law, Kenneth and Mona Scott May; five grandchildren, Debra Burton Grabeel, William “Billy” Burton, Kevin Gene May, Cynthia May Walls and Roland Keith May; 10 great-grandchildren, Noah Grabeel, Victoria Grabeel, Ben May, Jessica Shelor McDaniels, Justin May, Joshua May, Anna Laura May, Danielle May, Stephanie May, and Elizabeth Walls; three great-great- grandchildren, Isabella May, Elijah May, and Alivia Daisy May. Funeral services will be 7 p.m. Friday, August 16, 2013, at A. Vest & Sons Funeral Home, White Gate with the Rev. Henry Conley, the Rev. Jim Conley, and Justan May officiating. Visitation will be at the funeral home Friday from 5 p.m. until service time. Graveside service will be Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Mechanicsburg Cemetery, Mechanicsburg.