On Tuesday, November 30, 2021, Wanda Gaye Stafford McGrath of Toney, Alabama passed peacefully from this life into the arms of her Savior. She was 79 years old.
Gaye was born on April 16th, 1942 in Hazel Green, Alabama. She graduated from Hazel Green High School in 1960 and worked as an accountant at Redstone Arsenal. She truly loved her job and the people she worked with.
Gaye loved her family and friends with a fierceness. She loved to fill your arms with gifts, often from her own closet or pantry. Her home was full of beautiful plants that she cared for with incredible intuition and skill. In her later years, she did a lot of sitting and watching, from her front porch chair to her rocker, always ready to make a witty comment, always ready to freely laugh and joke with a mischievous light in her eyes. No one could pull off a bucket hat and sweater like Gaye McGrath. Though she had a fear of snakes and watched too many true crime shows, she was a brave woman, who raised her kids in hard circumstances and persevered through many trials and so stomped the serpent’s head. She had fire in her belly, but we are glad she is no longer having to fight in this broken world. She is home.
She is preceded in death by her father, Orville Stafford, and her mother, Geneva (Gooch) Stafford. She is survived by her children and grandchildren, David McGrath, Susan (McGrath) Powe, Erin Powe, Laurel Hackett, and Josie Powe. Also by her siblings, Jerry (Mack) Stafford, Roger Stafford, Stan Stafford, Randall Stafford, Debbie Perry and aunt Nell Spray.
Special thanks to SouthernCare New Beacon Hospice, Lorrie Banes, and Dianna Wake for their extraordinary care.
Visitation will be held at 10:30am followed by her funeral at 12:30pm on Saturday, December 4th, 2021 at Hazel Green Funeral Home. Burial will then be in Stateline Cemetery.
Hazel Green Funeral Home is honored to serve the family.
