Rachel Marie (McGaha) Roberson, age 88, died January 20, 2020, at Chesapeake Health & Rehabilitation Center in Chesapeake, Virginia.
She is predeceased by her husband of 21 years, Earl A. Pruitt, who died in 1971; and her husband of 6 years, Raymond Roberson, who died in 1984; and her special companion Leon H. Ferrell, who died in 2008. She is also predeceased by her brother Oliver McGaha and sisters Bonnie (Lowe) Dickerson, Pauline (Wyatt) Eure, Sylvia (Syverson) Casteel, Inez O’Neal, and twin sister Hazel McGaha.
She is survived by three children: Tim Pruitt (Sharon), and Earl A. Pruitt, Jr.(Nancy), both of Chesapeake, and Margie Hawkins of Elizabethton, Tennessee; stepchildren Jami Poehl and Carrie Wise (Phil); grandchildren Sabrina Bullock of Kittrell, NC and Tabatha Hallman (Todd) of Elizabethton, Tennessee, and step-granddaughter Lauren Thorne (Joe); three great-grandchildren, Selena Macias (Juan), Anderson Hallman, and Abigail Hallman; four great-great grandsons, Greyson Goza, Dominic Macias, Mateo Macias, and Maverick Macias; one sister, Doris Champion (James) of Ozark, AL; and one brother, Edgar E. McGaha Jr. of Reovista, CA. Also close and surviving are Chris Jennings (Bob) of Chesapeake and their children Michael, Kathryn, and Brian.
Rachel was a daughter of Edgar and Frona (Henderson) McGaha, born in the hills of East Tennessee June 20, 1931. Her impoverished family was removed from the mountains to eastern North Carolina in the 1940s, and she struck out on her own at a very young age to Virginia. She worked in many of the restaurants of the Suffolk area for years. In the 1960s, she worked for a time at the General Electric plant in Suffolk. In her later years, she painted houses and practiced photography to a professional level. She was a fixture in the Nansemond Gardens community in Suffolk for 44 years.
The family will receive friends from 6-8:00 PM on Thursday, January 23 at Smith & Williams Funeral Home, Kempsville Chapel. A funeral service will be held at 11:00 AM on Friday, January 24th at the funeral home. Graveside services will be private.
Rachel loved flowers, but in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer's Association.
