Carol Jemison Lacy

Antoinette (Bookie) Blakeway Jemison. Mrs. Lacy was a

lifelong resident of Birmingham. She spent many happy times in her early years at Spring Lake Farms, a working farm with cattle and horses that belonged to her grandfather, Robert Jemison, Jr. She attended Brooke Hill School and graduated from Phillips High School. She attended Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. In 1952, she married Alexander Shelton Lacy, and they shared 57 years together. Mrs. Lacy was active in civic affairs. She was Chair of the Birmingham Festival of Arts, Salute to Japan, in 1967, and she and Mayor Albert Boutwell welcomed dignitaries to the opening event – the dedication of the Japanese gardens and teahouse at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. She was President of the Junior League in 1968-1969, and Birmingham’s Woman of the Year ’67-’68; her nomination cited her community service and “dedication to the growth of Birmingham.” She was devoted to Highlands School, and served on the advisory “creation” board with the founder, Evalina Brown Spencer, in 1958. She was business manager for 38 years and later, Development Director. She led the 1996 capital campaign that resulted in campus-wide improvements including the Styslinger Learning Center. When she retired in 2001, the Board created the Carol J. Lacy Endowment Fund in her honor.

Like her father, Mrs. Lacy had a way with people. The consummate Southern lady, she was warm and gracious. She appreciated beauty – in art, nature, manners, and above all, classical music. She studied piano early on, and continued lessons at Randolph-Macon. She and Mr. Lacy were arts patrons, particularly of the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, where Mr. Lacy was Board Chair and President, and Mrs. Lacy was a leader of the Junior Women’s group, which she helped to organize. They took pride in the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (BJCC) and its state-of-the-art Concert Hall – the construction of which Mr. Lacy oversaw as the first BJCC Authority Board Chair – and where the Symphony performed from 1973-1996. She was a longtime member of Tremont Garden Club, Mountain Brook Club, and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, and a granddaughter, Ana Kelly Jemison Lacy. Survivors include her children, John (Jack) Blakeway Lacy (Elizabeth), Joan L. Chancey, Alexander Shelton Lacy Jr., (Tabitha); grandchildren John Blakeway Lacy, Laura Elizabeth Lacy, Elizabeth Blakeway Chancey, and William Alexander Lacy; sister, Ann Blakeway Epps; nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews. The family would like to thank Mrs. Lacy’s compassionate caregivers: Jennifer Jackson, Doreatha Moss, Kenyata Lee, and the staff at St. Martin’s in the Pines – Evergreen. A memorial service will be Aug. 8 at 10 a.m. in the Hill Garden at the Botanical Gardens, with visitation following in the Ireland Room. The family suggests memorials to Highlands School, 4901 Old Leeds Rd., Birmingham, AL 35213; Alabama Symphony Orchestra Annual Fund, www.alabamasymphony.org; St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 3736 Montrose Rd, Birmingham, AL 35213; or Alzheimer’s of Central

Alabama, www.alzca.org.