Evelyn Rebecca “Becky” Grant, age 77, was called home by her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, peacefully in her sleep on November 27, 2022, after gracefully living many years with an illness.
A celebration of life service will be held at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, November 30, in the chapel of Memorial Park Funeral Home in Gainesville. Rev. Mike Taylor will officiate. Burial will follow in the Memorial Park Cemetery.
The family will receive friends at Memorial Park Funeral Home from on Tuesday, November 29, 2022, from 2-4 p.m. and 5-7 p.m.
Becky was born at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, on March 11, 1945, while her father, Vernon Murphy, was stationed at Camp Butner, an Army base near there. When his service finished, her family moved to Gainesville, and she has lived in the area ever since on Ryder Drive, Dunn Drive, Dixie Drive, and Pond House Road.
She was saved when she was 12 years old at Westside Baptist Church and baptized soon after. Becky loved to read God’s Word. Her favorite Scripture was Psalm 23. She believed you should read your Bible, pray, and obey the Lord.
Becky went to Lyman Hall Elementary School through the 8th grade. She then went to South Hall High School. Becky graduated in 1963 as the salutatorian for her class. She then went to Young Harris College and studied business. Becky worked for Zell Miller while a student there. She graduated in 1965 with an associate degree in business.
Becky met her husband, Gary Grant, at Lyman Hall. They eventually went to Westside Baptist Church together as well. Becky and Gary always were friends, and they began dating in high school. The relationship became a long distance one while Becky was at Young Harris. But after Becky’s graduation, they became engaged and married at Westside Baptist Church on March 12, 1966.
They lived most of their years together on Dixie Drive next to their best friends, Ray and Betty Duncan. Gary and Becky also had two children, Scott Gary Grant and Amy Rebecca Grant, while there, and they lived there as a family until Gary’s passing from cancer on December 2, 1994. Becky moved to Country Walk subdivision in the Chestnut Mountain area in 1998. She loved being able to see the steeple of Chestnut Mountain Presbyterian Church while rocking or swinging on her front porch.
Becky began working for Sears at its Sherwood Plaza location in Gainesville after she graduated from college in 1965. She started in the personnel department. Becky would continue working for Sears for the next 43 years. She retired as the Operations Manager from the Lakeshore Mall location in Gainesville in 2008. Becky enjoyed her work, because she loved the people she worked for and with and the customers she served.
She served the Lord through the local church. Becky became the pianist at Westside Baptist Church while she was in high school, continued through college, and played for many years after that. She loved to play and sing with her father, who led the music there. Later, she fulfilled her dream of teaching by leading Sunday School classes at Westside for elementary school children. Becky continued teaching when she joined Blackshear Place Baptist Church. She taught children on Wednesday nights in the AWANA program.
Becky loved to read and was a frequent visitor to the Hall County Library’s Blackshear Place branch. She loved to spend time with her family, especially her children and grandchildren, and was eager to travel with them at any time. Becky also loved spending time with her friends.
Becky’s husband of 28 years, Gary, and her parents, Vernon & Dayron Murphy, went to heaven before her. She was a loving and sacrificial caregiver to them and many other family members through the years. Becky’s nephew, Todd Hulsey, also went to heaven ahead of her.
She is survived by her son, Scott, and his wife, Lisa, of Pendergrass, and her daughter, Amy, and her husband, Chris, of Flowery Branch; grandchildren Sarah Durrence, Grant Durrence, Anna Grant, Rebecca Grant, Samuel Grant, David Grant. Becky is also survived by her brother, Stan, and his wife, Tracy, of Gillsville, and nephew, Cody Murphy of Gainesville, as well as sisters-in-law, Ann Gibson, and her husband, Lake, of Cumming, Lynn Hulsey, and her husband, Bill, and Patti Kravitz, and her husband, Paul, of Dawsonville, nephew Chad Gibson, and his wife, Lisa, of Murrayville, niece Kim Coffey, and her husband, Gary, of Cumming, and great nieces Catherine Gibson and Lauren Gibson of Murrayville and Olivia Coffey of Cumming.
The family would like to thank all those who helped care for Becky the past two years, especially Norma Roush.
In lieu of flowers, the family encourages memorial donations be made either to Eagle Ranch or Choices Pregnancy Care Center.
Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Memorial Park Funeral Home, 2030 Memorial Park Road, Gainesville, GA 30504 is in charge of arrangements.
Send online condolences to www.memorialparkfuneralhomes.com