Sally Mae Weaver Garey

Born on June 17, 1931, in Rocky Mount, N.C., she was the daughter of Elizabeth Moore Weaver & James Paul Weaver. She was predeceased in death by her parents and brother, James Paul Weaver, Jr. and her husband, George Alexander Garey, Jr.

She is survived by two sons, George Alexander Garey, III and wife Michelle, of Shelby, N.C., and James Weaver Garey and wife Ann, of Raleigh; one daughter, Sallie Bett Severa Theall and husband David, of Greensboro; and four grandchildren: Weaver Garey and Will Garey of Raleigh, and Kathleen Severa and Georgia Severa, of Greensboro.

Sally graduated from Rocky Mount High School in 1949 and rarely missed a class reunion. She cherished her time with the “Holy 17,” a group of seventeen high school girlfriends who remained close throughout their lives. Their shenanigans led one male classmate to call them the “Unholy 17.” She graduated from Woman’s College (now UNC-Greensboro) with a one-year degree, and returned home to work for China American Tobacco Company. She later moved to Washington, DC and worked for Capital Airlines.

She met her husband, George, a Wilmington native, while he was serving in the Army at Fort Belvoir, Va. They were married at Fort Belvoir on February 25, 1956 and soon returned to their native state — first to Wilmington, then Durham, finally settling in Greensboro in 1959, where they raised their children. After George’s death, Sally moved to Wilmington in 1996, then returned to Greensboro in 2015.

Sally loved people and she loved to dance the jitterbug, garnering the nickname the “Be-Bop Queen” in her Senior High yearbook. She attended the June German dances at the local tobacco warehouse, where big bands of the era would play while traveling through Rocky Mount by rail between Manhattan and Miami. She loved trains, probably because they were ever-present fixture in her childhood home.

Sally never met a stranger and was welcoming to all. She was coordinator for Mobile Meals for many years and was a front desk receptionist at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. She worked the polls and served on the sailboat racing committee at Carolina Yacht Club in Wrightsville Beach.

Throughout their years in Greensboro, Sally and George made lifelong friends of neighbors first at Latham Park Apartments, through George’s work at Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company, and from neighbors in Kirkwood. When she moved back to Wilmington she enjoyed being with friends, gallivanting in her convertible wearing her pink hat and volunteering at St. James’ Episcopal Church. Known as NaNa by her grandchildren, she showed love and care for them all, was generous and kind, with a good bit of sass sprinkled in.

Sally’s funeral will be Friday, March 9, at 3 p.m. at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Greensboro followed by a reception in the Haywood Duke Room.

Special thank you to Hospice & Palliative Care of Greensboro and Carrie with 1st Choice Home Care.

Memorials may be made to Mobile Meals (through Senior Resources of Guilford), Hospice & Palliative Care of Greensboro or Holy Trinity Episcopal Church.

Online condolences may be made at www.haneslineberryfuneralhomes.com.