Pauline Phelps Deck

Pauline P. “Polly” Deck, Monticello docent, public school educator, wildflower gardener, music lover, storyteller, and matriarch of her family, died peacefully on August 12, 2024 in Charlottesville, VA. She was 97.

Polly found purposeful meaning through her robust involvement in churches, participating in church life as a leader and guiding voice. She skillfully built social connections and brought people together, reaching out to build relationships and make new friends in every phase of her life. Throughout her 97 years she also kept asking questions about the world around her and she actively sought out new experiences.

Born in Abingdon, VA, on February 22, 1927, Polly was the daughter of furniture maker Paul S. Phelps and Pearl H. Phelps. As a youngster she had more than 50 first cousins in the Abingdon area and she attended Abingdon United Methodist Church with her family. At William King High School she was editor of the school newspaper and graduated as class valedictorian in 1944. After high school, Polly attended Wesleyan College in Macon, GA, receiving her BA in 1948. Following graduation, she became a public high school teacher in Tazewell, VA and in Wytheville, VA. After four years as a teacher she moved to Pulaski, VA to become Director of Christian Education at First United Methodist Church, where she made lifelong friends and heated croquet rivals.

In the fall of 1954 she met J. David Deck, a young UVA Medical School professor, on a blind date in Charlottesville; ten months later they were married in her Pulaski church. Upon moving to Charlottesville she and David joined Westminster Presbyterian Church where she became the director of the Summer Bible School program for the summer of 1956. She attended church every Sunday and joined nearly every church leadership committee. She sang in the choir and was a member of the church’s governing Board of Deacons and Session. She was Westminster’s first female chair of the Board of Deacons and in following years she and David established the church’s Westminster Lectureship, a seminar series addressing topics in contemporary theology.

She helped guide a household of four children and several pets. She loved plants (particularly wildflowers) and built an extensive wildflower collection pathway in her wooded back yard in Charlottesville. On family travels in the mid-Atlantic (and later on tent camping trips into Canada, California and Europe) she collected ideas, seeds and sometimes plants that she added to her home flower beds and walks. She was an enthusiastic supporter of The Wednesday Music Club supporting and encouraging young musicians in central Virginia. She continued seeking adventures throughout her later life including visiting George Washington’s Mount Vernon on her 92nd birthday (where she proudly told officials that she and the first president shared the same birthday) and sampling her first raw oysters at the age of 95.

Polly taught in the Charlottesville Public School system for 14 years, first as an elementary reading and math specialist at Greenbrier, Clarke, and Burnley-Moran and later as a third grade teacher at Jackson -Via. She retired from teaching in 1989 to care for her elderly mother. Shortly thereafter, following extensive study on the life and work of Thomas Jefferson, she joined the staff of Monticello. Like other guides, she composed her own house tour which she practiced and honed at home with her family. One of the distinct joys in her later life (along with Brunswick Stew and ham biscuits) were the 23 years she spent teaching visitors to Monticello about Thomas Jefferson’s life on the mountaintop and being part of the closely-connected staff of other lifelong history learners there.

She is survived by her husband, J. David Deck of Charlottesville, VA; her sons, J. David Deck, Jr. of North Chesterfield, VA, and Stewart L. Deck of Arlington, MA; and her daughter, Emily Deck Harrill, of Columbia, SC. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Sarah Deck Stevens of Santa Fe, NM; by her parents, Paul and Pearl Phelps of Abingdon; and by her brother, James Bradley Phelps of Miami, FL. She had 8 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held for her at 1pm on Saturday, November 9 at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville. Donations in her memory may be made to causes she strongly supported: Charlottesville Free Clinic, Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, Meals on Wheels, Westminster Presbyterian Church and Hospice of the Piedmont.