Mrs. Ermie Virginia Grayson Macknee died May 16, 2018, at her home in Durham, N.C. She was 78.
Ermie was born Nov. 26, 1939, in Ferriday, La., to Frank Boatner Grayson and Doris Ophelia Cummings Grayson and spent her youth in Greenville, Miss. She was married Aug. 5, 1956, to George Henry (Hank) Macknee in Hollandale, Miss. She graduated from UNC–Chapel Hill in 1974.
Ermie held editing and proofreading positions at *The State* newspaper in Columbia, S.C.; Trivette Christian in Richmond, Va.; Creative Printers in Chapel Hill, N.C.; and Piedmont Litho, Rockett Burkhead & Winslow, and Edwards & Broughton in Raleigh, N.C. She then started her own freelance editing business, from which she retired in early 2016.
In their school years, her grandchildren gathered each summer for “Camp Oma” where they staged plays, made films, visited museums and stayed up as late as they wanted. Ermie passed along to her children and grandchildren her passion for language, as well as artistic talent in music, visual arts, and needlework. She made clothes for her children and many wonderful costumes for their stage productions. She also sang madrigals every other Tuesday for nearly 40 years with family and friends, was a member of the Durham Civic Choral Society, was a Sunday School teacher and a Girl Scout leader, and was active in the League of Women Voters and the environmental activist group CHANGE.
Ermie is survived by her husband of 61 years, Hank Macknee; sister Linda Booker (Jim) of Huntsville, Ala.; brothers David Grayson (Rachael) of Gulfport, Miss., Walter Grayson (Jo Alice) of Jackson, Miss., and Robert Grayson (Burma) of Memphis, Tenn.; daughters Salem Macknee of Durham, N.C., and Megan Mazzocchi (Jay) of Chapel Hill, N.C.; and son Gilly Macknee of West Jefferson, N.C.; and grandchildren Maddie and Abby Howard of Boston, Mass.; Guthrie Howard of Durham, N.C.; Seton Raynor (Aaron) of Chapel Hill, N.C.; Mary Clare Mazzocchi of South Bend, Ind.; and Jeremy, Eben, and Geli Macknee of West Jefferson, N.C.
The family wishes to thank UNC Hospice and Kathy Neal for their care and kindness.
A funeral will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 25, at McNeece-Morris Funeral Home in Fulton, Miss., with burial to follow in the family plot at Oak Grove Cemetery in Mantachie, Miss. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until service time Friday, May 25, at the funeral home. Later in the summer, there will be a memorial service in Chapel Hill, N.C.
