A memorial service celebrating the life of Margaret “Miss York” Gerald a longtime resident of Leland will held at 2:00 P.M., Friday, August 31, 2012 at the Leland Methodist Church. She passed away in the night on August 24, 2012 after celebrating her 92nd birthday, August 23, 2012 with family and friends. Services are under the direction of Boone Funeral Home, Leland. Born in 1920, Mrs. Gerald graduated from Hendrix College and took her first teaching job in West Point, MS. She later joined her parents in Leland, where she continued her teaching career in Latin, Civics and History until retirement some thirty years later. During this time a multitude of students benefited from her grace, love of knowledge, unwavering sense of duty, and fair-minded approach to classroom interaction. In 1974, she married James Gerald of Leland and lived with him a life filled with travel, gardening and canning, civic participation, laughter and music. Margaret loved opera and a full repertoire of the classics. She could be found nearly every Sunday, and countless other times, behind the organ or piano at Leland Methodist Church, accompanying the choir and filling the church with her joyful rendering of the hymns. Mrs Gerald is survived by her stepchildren, Jimmy Gerald of Clarksdale, Tommy Gerald of Lompoc, California, and Carolyn Swartzwelder of Metairie, Louisiana. Also, surviving are her beloved sister-in-law, Floy York of Fayetteville, Arkansas, wife of the late John Owen York, Margaret’s only sibling. Survivors also include niece Margaret Mitchell (Aaron) and great-nephew Sam of Dallas, Texas, and niece Elizabeth McNair (Phillippe Douet) and grand-niece Sarah, also of Dallas. The service will be conducted by the Reverend Cecil Rhodes, and will be followed by a time of visitation and sharing in the church fellowship hall.
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