Lorraine was born April 15 1930 in Hackensack, NJ to Joseph Gabriel Gallagher and Magdalen Kingsland Gallagher. Her father, the postmaster of Ridgewood NJ, died in 1935 of pneumonia, after which she was sent to boarding school from 1936-1944. She graduated from Ridgewood High School with honors in 1947.
She attended UNC Women’s College in Greensboro, NC on a scholarship where she made lifelong friends and graduated in 1951 with a BA in education. She worked during the summers at Barium Springs Home for Children. She married George Willcox on the same day she graduated in May of 1951 and two weeks later, they brought her husband’s two youngest siblings to live with them.
They had two daughters, Carol Kingsland Willcox and Martha Cameron Willcox and divorced in 1963. Lorraine then moved with her daughters to Winston-Salem where she participated in the Winston-Salem Solo Parents Group, and made several close friends. In 1969, she married James Ben Thompson.
She taught elementary school in Raeford and Southern Pines, North Carolina and in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools as a reading specialist at South Fork, Skyland, Rural Hall, and Easton Elementary Schools until she retired in 1995. She remained a member of the Winston-Salem /Forsyth County retired teachers association.
She was an active member of First Presbyterian Church, where she was awarded Life Membership in 2010. She helped organize Christmas gifts for Hawley House, a halfway house for women in Winston-Salem. She volunteered at Lloyd Presbyterian Church as part of their restoration project, and was involved with their homeless shelter, and weekly lunch and Bible study. She participated in the Friendship Force, a cultural exchange program, through which she visited and hosted families from Egypt and England.
Lorraine will be remembered for her generosity and sense of humor. She always invited anyone who knocked on her door to come into the house to cool off and have a glass of iced tea and immediately sprang into action when she heard of someone in need. She was well- known for her hospitality and skill as a cook, particularly for her pound cakes, which repeatedly won first prize at the Fair.
She had been living with her eldest daughter Carol and son-in law, Buckner Melton for the last four years in Macon, Georgia. Carol Willcox Melton is a professor of history at Middle Georgia State University. Her younger daughter Martha lives in Mexico City, Mexico where she works in international development with indigenous farmers who grow native maize. Martha’s husband, John Gale, lives in Washington, DC. Lorraine is also survived by her two beloved grandsons, Nathan Rossiter Gale and Thomas Willcox Gale.
An on-line service will be arranged in the next week and interment will take place at the columbarium at First Presbyterian Church at a later date.
Memorial gifts may be made to Lloyd Presbyterian Church 748 N Chestnut St. Winston-Salem, NC 27101 (http://lloydpres.com/); Samaritan Ministries 414 E. Northwest Blvd Winston-Salem, NC 27105 (https://www.samaritanforsyth.org/donate-online/); or Pine Point Hospice 6261 Peak Road, Macon, Georgia 31210.
