Peggy Barfield Churn

Peggy Barfield Churn died on February 23 in her home at the age of 86. Peggy came into the world on May 1, 1935 in Erwin, North Carolina. She was raised in Dunn by her parents, Ruth Pope Barfield and Willie Elisha Barfield within a large, hardworking, and loving family. She remembers well the nurturing and care given to her and her three brothers not only by her mother, but also her aunts while her father was in France serving in WWII. She talked about being the only girl among her three brothers and two cousins who were always together as children. Peggy thrived growing up in Dunn surrounded by family and friends and was even crowned “Miss Dunn” as a young adult. Perhaps her upbringing was the source of Peggy’s fierce sense of family, fiery spirit, work ethic and obligation to help others.

After graduating from Dunn High School, she entered East Carolina Teachers College in 1953 where she was a cheerleader and completed her full teaching degree within three years. While at East Carolina, she met and soon afterward married, Bill Churn, whom she continued to love, laugh with, and adore for over 60 years. She moved to Raleigh in 1957 with Bill, where she continued to live for the remainder of her life, raising three children, Margaret, Lee, and David, and working and volunteering in her neighborhood and community.

Peggy was passionate about public education, and more specifically equity, diversity, and excellence in schools. She taught for many years in Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS) at Boylan, Frances Lacy, Douglas, Hunter, and Underwood Elementary Schools. She completed her Masters in Education at Duke University while she continued working full time and began serving in several leadership roles within WCPSS. Peggy was named Assistant Principal at Crosby Garfield and then promoted to Principal at York where she was later named Principal of the Year.

In 1982, she was selected as one of ten “Master Principals” who would each lead one of the first magnet schools for the purposes of desegregation. She was appointed Principal at Underwood GT Magnet Elementary and lead it through its early years as a popular and successful magnet school. She maintained a special place in her heart for the students, staff and entire Underwood community over the course of her life.

Peggy was named as the first WCPSS Director of Magnet Programs and in that role, she became known as a champion and torch bearer for desegregation and equity in public education. Peggy also led a very small team of educators in writing and securing the first federal Magnet Schools Assistance Program grant. Eventually, she was asked to lead the charge of bringing year-round education to the school district, and in 1989, under her guidance, WCPSS opened the very first year-round school in North Carolina.

She approached every job she held with dogged determination and commitment but would say later that she thought mentoring principals was the thing she enjoyed most. Peggy thrived on building relationships and guiding others to do well by every child. She was given this opportunity as a WCPSS Assistant Superintendent and later after retirement when other districts would hire her to mentor and develop principals.

In 1994, Peggy, always eager for an adventure, talked Bill into moving to Everett, Washington, just outside of Seattle. She had been offered a position as Deputy Superintendent of Instruction in the school district there. Not long after they were settled on the west coast, Peggy was telling tales of new friends, new places, new work associates, and even once teaching gym class for a high school teacher who was out on long term absence. In later years, Peggy regarded the move to the west coast as one of the best decisions of her life.

It is hard to imagine that Peggy Churn had any time in her busy and purposeful life between raising her family and her education career. But to those who knew her, it was no surprise that she was enthusiastically active in her church and the community. At Hillyer Memorial Christian Church, where she was a member for over 60 years, Peggy served as an Elder, taught Sunday school, mentored struggling young teens, assisted with the minister search process, and worked on the committee to fund and plan construction of the beautiful columbarium that graces the outside of the church today. In recent years she sang in the choir, and even performed a hymn or two on her beloved ukulele.

Notable among the many civic and philanthropical organizations Peggy served were: Project Enlightenment Executive Board; NC Lung Association Board of Directors and President; Underwood Foundation; Raleigh Host Lions Club; and Meals on Wheels. She was a member of The Junior Woman’s Club, Beta Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma, and Club XVII dance club (Peggy loved to dance)! She helped organize and work neighborhood clean-up days into her eighties and enjoyed serving on the committee convened to plan the Hayes Barton Centennial Celebration. Peggy served as a precinct worker in her voting district, and until recent health issues, she never missed an election. If Peggy joined anything, she did it full steam ahead, spoke her mind, and worked with energy and spunk. She was energized by the work she did, no matter the magnitude, and her family heard her say on more than one occasion, “If you’re going to do something, do it right”!

Peggy and Bill loved to travel and did so extensively. They created and enjoyed adventures with great friends all over the world. A highlight of those travel years was when they took their children and spouses to France for what they all regarded as a trip of a lifetime. Being an organizer from the start, Peggy would journal her days and create books after every trip. Her bookshelves in her den are lined with her personal archives of days spent doing what she loved with Bill, her children, and friends.

Peggy enjoyed music, dancing, art, the theater, and socializing with her many friends. She loved nothing better than sitting on her front or screened porch with a “healthy pour” of Big Churn Chardonnay visiting, catching up, and laughing with friends and neighbors. Her social calendar was full of meetings, lunches, porch sittings, and nights at the theater up until her last days. Her life was full, but she never took one thing for granted. She was very clear about how fortunate and grateful she was to have had so many wonderful friends from every walk of life. Every single evening for many years, Peggy sat quietly to record her “Blessings of the Day”.

Of all she treasured in her life, Peggy cherished her family most, and every one of them knew it. As a mother, she was a combination of strong and intelligent mixed with loving and caring. She believed in discipline, good manners, treating others with kindness and respect, telling the truth, doing one’s best, (no matter the size of the endeavor), and speaking up for important causes or when others were being treated unfairly. She taught her children the importance of making and keeping good friends and finding humor in situations. And…she conveyed all of this with both words and action, and often a small dose of tough love. Family time was important, and she would make a great vacation out of any simple trip to the beach, Williamsburg, or elsewhere – nothing fancy but they made for some fond childhood memories. Her grandchildren and great granddaughters knew her affectionately as Mar-Mar, and she loved all of them for the individuals they are. They always brought her so much joy and being with them was a priority for her and “Pop”. To be one of Peggy’s children was to have an advocate in your corner, to hear the truth when it needed to be heard, to know you had her eternal support and in no uncertain terms that you were loved beyond measure.

In the last month of Peggy’s life, she was awarded The Order of The Longleaf Pine, the highest state award bestowed upon a civilian, for her life’s contributions in education, church, and civic life. There is certainly no one who tried harder over the course of a lifetime to contribute and make a positive impact than she. Peggy Churn lived with purpose and passion, and her family will miss her deeply, remember her dearly, and will be forever grateful for her beautiful life.

Peggy was pre-deceased by her husband, William LeRoy Churn; and two brothers, William Pope Barfield, and Jerry Brooks Barfield. She is survived by three children Margaret Churn Henderson (Terry), William LeRoy Churn, Jr. (Diane), and David Keith Churn (Sheila); grandchildren, William Terrill Henderson (Katie), Bennette Grayson Henderson, Wesley Keith Churn, Lile Grey Churn, Alexandra Carleton Churn, Lauren Nicole Douglass, Evan Kapel Douglass, and Emma Danielle Douglass; great grandchildren, Caroline Genevieve Henderson and Louise Bennette Henderson; a brother, Carey Brian Barfield (Rosa); and a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins.

A service and visitation in celebration of Peggy’s life will be held at Hillyer Memorial Christian Church, 718 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC on Saturday, March 5, 2022 at 11am.

Donations in her memory may be made to Hillyer Memorial Christian Church or the charity of one’s choice.

Arrangements are in the care of Brown-Wynne, 300 Saint Mary’s St., Raleigh, NC.