Peggy Rhodes Fain

Peggy Rhodes Fain passed away at home in Raleigh, North Carolina on January 7, 2022 at the age of 71 after a hard-fought battle with breast cancer. Her courage, concern for others and strength remained inspirational until the end. Peggy was a light to all who knew her.

She was born February 16, 1950 and raised in Walterboro, South Carolina, where she made lifelong friends and memories; her heart remained deeply rooted in the Lowcountry for all of her days. She made her way to Atlanta after school and it was there that she was introduced to her beloved “Pal” Jim on a supremely successful blind date. Peggy and Jim were married in 1977 and eventually made their home in Raleigh, North Carolina, after stops in Charlotte and High Point.

Her life was defined by service to others. Over the course of her life Peggy served an extensive list of organizations including The Raleigh Fine Arts Society, the Rex Hospital Foundation, the Lucy Daniels Center, the Community Music School, the Raleigh Junior League and her beloved Christ Church Altar Guild. Her contributions to each of these organizations - and many more - have resonated for years and will live on long after her passing. She was a member of many clubs and social groups including the Oakleaf Reading Club, Lamplighters, Four Seasons, among others. Her personal style was unparalleled and she has had a long and successful career in fashion, most recently with Pearl by Lela Rose, which was fueled by her delight and joy in helping her many customers feel confident and beautiful.

It is hard to put into words how much Peggy meant to so many. She was the sun and the moon and the stars; she was the sunrise and the sunset. She made every single person she met feel important, worthy and special; she always cared more for others than she did for herself. As stunningly beautiful as she was on the outside, it was spectacularly surpassed by her inner beauty. Peggy had a surprisingly wicked sense of humor and tolerated, and probably enjoyed, the shenanigans of her children and a cadre of naughty pranksters in her life (you know who you are). Though this loss is unbearable, we know her love will sustain us and inspire us for the rest of our days. Or she will haunt us. (She requested humor in this remembrance.)

She is survived by her husband, James T. Fain, III, her daughter, Catherine and her son, John, both of Raleigh, her sister Katherine R. Smith (Robert) of Walterboro, SC, her sister-in-law Sandra Fain of Raleigh, her brother-in-law the Reverend Robert Duncan Fain and his wife Deborah of Hendersonville, NC, many devoted nieces, nephews, and grand nieces and nephews, as well as Iris, Hank, Dumplin and Dolly, her pack of dogs and granddogs who adored her and were adored in return.

She was preceded in death by her mother Betty Sanders Rhodes, her father John Benjamin Rhodes, her brother John Marshall Rhodes and her brother-in-law Thomas Michael Fain.

Her legacy will live on in the hearts and minds of everyone she interacted with as well as those she reached but never met.

A service of Christian Burial will be held at Christ Church, 120 East Edenton Street, Raleigh on Friday, January 28th at 1 pm. The Reverend James P. Adams, Rector of Christ Church will officiate. Interment will be private.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Saving Grace Animal Rescue, Transitions LifeCare or to Christ Church Outreach Ministry.

Services provided by Brown-Wynne, 300 St. Mary's Street, Raleigh.