Peggy Sue King's Obituary
PEGGY SUE HEARD KING MEMORIAL SERVICE
Memorial services for Peggy Sue Heard King of Auburn, Alabama, will be held at Central Baptist Church on 1611 2nd Avenue in Opelika, Alabama, on Monday, March 12, 2012, with Visitation from 10 to 11 a.m., followed by a memorial service from 11 to 12 in the church. Officiates for her service will be Brother Frank Chappell, Waverly Baptist Church, and Brother Gerald Sikes, Central Baptist Church. Interment will be at Auburn Memorial Gardens with a private family only ceremony. Mrs. King was born on March 18, 1934 in Collinwood (Wayne County) Tennessee and passed away on March 9, 2012, peacefully at home with her family after a courage fight against lung cancer at the age of 77. She is preceded in death by her husband, Lester C. King, Auburn, and her parents, Ralph and Lou Ella Heard, of Camp Hill, Alabama.
Peggy Sue Heard moved to Camp Hill Alabama from Tennessee when she was in the first grade. She was very active in her community in Camp Hill, both the Camp Hill Baptist Church and Camp Hill High School. She was a graduating member of the Camp Hill High School class of 1952; a class which has remained devoted to one another for over 58 years. While in her senior year of high school, and working as the Year Book editor for the school yearbook, the Wolverine, she met and worked with a young photographer at Auburn University named Lester King. They married in June after graduation in 1952 and in 1953 began raising their family of five children, who along with Auburn University were the focus of their lives. While Lester King chronicled the growth and changes of Auburn University as Chief University Photographer, Peggy worked at the University as a Laboratory Technician in the School of Agriculture, through departmental changes from the Department of Botany, Department of Biology through the Department of Plant Pathology for over 45 years. They raised their children on the Auburn campus, in the married students? apartments, known as Graves Apartments, until moving to Waverly in 1965. While Lester took photos of AU football and AU identification cards, Peggy worked to keep her children taken care of as well as working. The long hours of Lester were managed by Peggy?s involvement with her children and their activities, as well as her work. When she had time, she loved to travel with her professional organizations, the Nematology Association and the International Nematologists among other groups. She traveled the country and the world, discussing and presenting research on nematodes, very important research at AU where microscopic plant diseases were researched on crops such as peanuts, tomatoes, corn, and potatoes. With only a high school degree, she had so many publications and research presentations for her efforts, working with great AU and USDA scientists over the years.
Mrs. King raised her children emphasizing independence, education, self-reliance and respect for others. She and Lester demonstrated their love for their children by teaching them how important character, family and Christianity are. Even though she retired from AU in the early 2000s, she continued to her research on a part time basis into her 70s, when she had to retire again and fight lung cancer. She fought her and in her dying set an example to her children and others. Her hobbies of yard work, reading, history, travel were infused into her life and she in turn included her children in her hobbies.
Mrs. King is survived by five children, six grandchildren and one great granddaughter all of whom love her very much: her daughter Barbara King (Troy) Dobbins, Auburn, son Joseph G. (Mary Ann) King, MD, of Lexington, KY, son Travis L King, Auburn, Nancy King (Bill) Capps, Auburn, and Leslie (Chris) Smith-King, Auburn. Her grandchildren are Gary Wheat, Birmingham; Jesse Dobbins, Auburn; Katherine King, Qatar; Harrison King, Washington, D.C., Kylie King, Birmingham, Samuel King, Auburn and her great granddaughter Kendall Marie Dobbins. Special grandchildren are Kristopher Dobbins and family (Paige, Paxton and Reid) of Marietta, GA. Mrs. King has one living aunt, Retha Horton, and several close cousins.
The family appreciates your remembrance of our mother as you wish, but our mother loved flowers which will be appreciated or donations to her favorite charity: Hospice Advantage/East Alabama Medical Center, who cared for her throughout her journey.
Langley Funeral Home of Camp Hill is handling arrangements.
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