Evelyn Mercer Castleberry

Evelyn, Mom or GG, as she was fondly known was born on June 19, 1927 in Wilmington, NC to Henry Addix Mercer and Evelyn Jones Mercer, both formerly of Wilmington, NC.

Evelyn lived, as she told everyone around her, “On Top of the World”. She was effervescent and her glowing positivity touched the lives of everyone she knew.

Evelyn grew up in Wilmington, NC surrounded by her family and graduated from New Hanover Highschool in June of 1945. She went on to study at “WC”- the Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina from 1945 to the fall of 1946. A resident of Bailey Hall, she had many fond memories and made lasting friendships. From there Evelyn went on to spend a brief time in New York to try her hand at modeling. After deciding that it was not for her, she settled back in Wilmington to take secretarial and accounting courses at Wilmington College.

On July 21, 1949 a visit to see her college roommate In Gastonia, NC shaped her next chapter of life as she met Charles “Charlie” Castleberry. Three days later he took her to see his mother, introducing her as such: “Mama, I want you to meet the girl I’m going to marry.” Four months later on November 24, 1949 they were married on Thanksgiving day. In her written memories she said, “I always considered Thursday my lucky day after that. We met on Thursday, married on Thursday, and our son Sandy was born on Thursday.” Evelyn’s only son and her pride and joy, Charles “Sandy” Castleberry, was born on June 14, 1951.

In the spring of 1963, Evelyn, Charlie and Sandy moved into the home that they built on Pleasant Grove Church Rd in Raleigh, NC where they “set up housekeeping”, joined the church a few doors down, and began to build their life and community. Evelyn was a proud member of Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church for 51 years and treasured each and every member of her church family.

At the age of 42 she graduated from NC State University on January 1, 1969 and went on to work for Wake County Department of Social Services for several years. As she tells it, she retired the day she found out she was going to be a grandmother. For many years the license plate on her car read “Let me tell you about my grandchildren.”

Evelyn was born to love and be loved. Her love was selfless and unending as a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, caregiver and friend. She had the most remarkable gift to build you up and make you feel like you were the most important person in the world. She was a storyteller and could paint beautiful pictures with her savant memory for details. She said her 1st grade teacher taught her how to train her memory and she could remember anyone’s name, their birthday and most likely what they were wearing when she met them.

Evelyn was an anchor for those around her and a pillar of inspirational spirit and faith. She tirelessly set the example for others to be their best selves and greet the world with open arms-- ready for a “bear hug.” She will be missed immensely but her undying love continues on among all of those who knew and loved her.

Evelyn is survived by Charles “Sandy” Castleberry; grandson Jason Castleberry, both of Durham; granddaughter Melissa Nava and husband Marco; and great-grandchildren Elio, Amapola, and Azucena “Zu”, all of Washington State.

Memorial contributions may be made to Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church--4415 Pleasant Grove Church Rd., Raleigh, NC 27613