Caroline Gray Trabue

Born January 15, 1914 in Birmingham AL. Died January 16, 2018 in Nashville, just a few hours after celebrating her 104th birthday the day before with her entire family. Caroline was the daughter of the late Dr. Edward Waters Gray and Lucy Belser Gray of Florence AL. She is preceded in death by her husband Laurence O’Bryan Trabue of Nashville and sister Virginia Gray Simpson of Courtland AL. Survived by daughters Caroline Trabue Reed and Anne Trabue Buttrey (David) of Nashville, Lucy Trabue Watson (Elias) of Birmingham, and son Laurence O’Bryan Trabue Jr of Nashville; grandchildren Susan Trabue Quaedvlieg of Nashville, Trae Watson of Birmingham, Anne Trabue Watson Nelson (Austin) of Philadelphia and David Trabue Buttrey of Nashville; and great-grandchildren Sjef and Ella Quaedvlieg of Nashville and Thomas and Holston Nelson of Philadelphia; sister Bettie Gray Hurd of Birmingham and three nieces and a nephew.

Raised in Sheffield and Florence AL, she excelled academically having skipped two grades in grammar school thus enrolling in what is now the University of North Alabama at the age of sixteen. Upon graduation in 1934 during the throes of the Great Depression, she ventured to New York City at age 20 where she worked for several years before moving to Chattanooga to work for the TVA. It was there on a blind date that she met the love of her life Laurence Trabue, a native Nashvillian. When he was called into the service during WWII, he proposed to her on a Monday and they had a full-scale wedding and reception five days later at her family home in Florence before leaving the next day to New York for Laurence to report for duty. His Naval career then took them to New Orleans where she remained while he served as Commander of the Roosevelt Roads Naval Base in Puerto Rico.

Postwar, they returned to Nashville and began raising their family which ultimately grew to include four children. As part of the founding families of St. George’s Episcopal Church, Caroline was always active in a variety of church activities starting with serving as President of the Altar Guild and then chairing numerous committees over her many tenured years as a communicant. In the early 1960’s, she became the first woman in Nashville to chair a city-wide charity drive serving as chairman of the American Cancer Society’s annual fundraising efforts. She is a past president of the Nashville Chapter of the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities, served on the board of Belle Meade Plantation and the board of the State APTA. She is a past president of Le Petit Salon literary club, a past board member of St. Luke’s Community House, and is a past member of The Centennial Club. She spent most of her adult life serving others, having been a 30-year volunteer for the This ‘n That Thrift Store which supports St. Luke’s and spending decades, well into her 90’s, visiting elderly shut-ins and the infirmed. She was a health enthusiast with a sense of adventure. At age sixteen on a dare, she became the first female to swim across the swift currents of the Tennessee River between Sheffield and Florence. She went snow-skiing for the first time at age sixty-five and was still seen in her mid-nineties walking two to three miles daily around Parmer Park, dressed as the true Southern lady she was, in a wool suit and heels. She was the epitome of a Steel Magnolia, always exhibiting her Southern grace and charm, but inwardly possessing the resiliency to face and endure life’s many adversities that were presented to her.

The family extends its deepest gratitude to the entire staff of Park Manor and Abe’s Garden for the love, devotion and attentive care they have extended to their mother over the past eight years. They truly have accepted God’s call to serve those in need with deep compassion and unwavering dedication.

Visitation with the family will be held Thursday January 18th from 4:30-6:30 pm at St. George’s Episcopal Church located at 4715 Harding Road. Funeral service will be held at 1:30 pm Friday, January 19th at the church with the Rev. R. Leigh Spruill officiating. Interment will follow at The Historic Mount Olivet Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to St. George’s Episcopal Church (4715 Harding Rd Nashville 37205), or the charity of one’s choice.

Arrangements by The Historic Mount Olivet Funeral Home & Cemetery. 1101 Lebanon Pike Nashville, Tennessee 27210