Margaret Etta Ford Fravel

On Sunday, June 2, 2019, Margaret Etta Ford Fravel “came to the garden alone, while the dew was still on the roses,”* and the voice she heard, falling on her ear, was the Son of God disclosed. As He walked with her and He talked with her, she was joyfully reunited with her loving husband, Tom; dear sister, Evelyn Logullo; and dear brother, Luther Ford. Born August 22, 1919, to Maggie Leona Bozman and Ruric Adams Ford in Somerset County, Maryland, she grew up with her four siblings on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. While working as a nurse in Baltimore, she met her husband, Thomas Hottel Fravel Jr., and they spent 66 wonderful years together in Linthicum, Maryland and Conneaut, Ohio, retiring in Kilmarnock, Virginia. Margaret had the sweetest spirit and most positive, cheerful outlook on life. She was a role model of kindness, goodness and gratitude to her family and all who had the good fortune of knowing her. As she departs this life, she leaves behind a joyful spirit in all of us whose lives she touched. She leaves to cherish many wonderful memories her loving sister, Lois Buttermore; dear brother and sister-in-law, Francis and Jean Ford; her daughters, Cary and son-in-law, Fred Dabney, Lois and son-in-law, Dave Siler; and grandchildren, Cameron (and Patrick) Harrington, Carter (and Aimee) Dabney, Wythe Dabney, Conor Waters and Elizabeth Waters (and Brent) Hunsinger; and many devoted nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her former son-in-law, Joedy (and Ruth) Waters. Her five devoted great-grandchildren, Jackson Hunley, David and Blake Dabney (who visited her every Sunday) and Abriella and Dabney Rose Harrington, will miss their Great Grandmom and MeeMommy. To their delight, she would ride them on her walker down the halls of Dogwood Terrace and would joyfully celebrate as they shared their interests and achievements with her. She also leaves behind her many friends at Dogwood Terrace Retirement Community, where she lived for the past 10 years, and her late-in-life companion, Al Astle, who predeceased her. Margaret was also predeceased by her brother in law and his wife, Charles and Mabel Fravel. “Miss Margaret’s” entire family sends our heartfelt thanks to her kind, gentle and loving caregivers, Joyce Cosby-Lewis, Lakeesia Pope, Chanel Mallory, Brittany Williams and all of the Chosen Angels team. In memory of Margaret’s beautiful and gracious spirit, do a random act of kindness, uplift the downtrodden, smile at those around you. If you would like to make a donation to one of her favorite charities, they were The Children’s Hospital of Richmond and the Central Virginia Food Bank. A graveside service will be held at a later date in Woodstock, Virginia, where her ashes will be interred next to her husband, Tom. *Lyrics from the hymn “In the Garden” by Charles A. Miles.