Mary Jane Haislip Fravel, 93, of Fairfax Pike, Stephens City, Virginia, passed away at her home on the evening of Tuesday, March 27, 2018. A funeral service was conducted on Monday, April 2, at 11:00 a.m. at Omps Funeral Home, South Chapel by Pastor W. Clay Knick of Grace United Methodist Church in Middletown, Virginia. Interment followed at Shenandoah Memorial Park.
Mrs. Fravel was born August 5, 1924, in the home of her parents west of Salem, Virginia. The only child of Walter Armstrong Haislip and Mary Leone Johnston Haislip, she matured among the country life along the Roanoke River and the Norfolk & Western Railway that bordered her childhood home. She was a 1941 graduate of Salem’s Andrew Lewis High School and a 1943 graduate of Virginia Intermont College located in Bristol, Virginia. Following college, she began employment at age 19 with the Norfolk & Western Railway headquarters in Roanoke during World War II.
On April 3, 1948, she married Linden Alton Fravel of Woodstock, Virginia, who preceded her in death on May 13, 1971. Her children are Linden Alton Fravel, Jr. and wife Libby of Stephens City, Neil Haislip Fravel and wife Elizabeth of Panama City, Florida, Barbara Ann Scheulen and husband George of Warrenton, Virginia, and Philip Martin Fravel and wife Judith of Stephens City. She enjoyed the company and growth of 12 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.
Following her marriage in Salem and move to Frederick County, Mrs. Fravel was later the co-founder of Fravel’s Plant & Fish Gardens of Stephens City, which operated from 1960 through the mid-1970s. She was a nurse and receptionist for the late Dr. George H. Smith of Winchester, Virginia, from 1959 until 1991. Mrs. Fravel then served under Dr. Byron Timberlake from 1991 until retiring in 2012 at age 88 due to declining eyesight – a career totaling 52 years serving medical patients in the Winchester area.
An avid gardener, throughout her adult life, Mrs. Fravel followed the footsteps of her father maintaining a large garden and various fruit-producing crops. Trained by her mother as an accomplished cook, the product of her gardening was often served at her supper table throughout the seasons of the year. Fall weekends were dedicated to Virginia Tech, Clemson University and Washington Redskins football. Her spring and summer sport was Washington Nationals baseball. She was appreciative of the numerous friends of all ages who filled her life for over ninety-three years.
Pallbearers were her grandchildren Jacob B. Fravel, L. A. “Pete” Fravel, III, William H. Fravel, Samuel L. Fravel, Brian S. Scheulen, and close family friend and neighbor C. Randy Sumption.
Donations may be made to the Winchester-Frederick County SPCA in her memory (https://winchesterspca.org/donate/) or to the John Hopkins Eye Institute, 600 North Wolfe Street, Wilmer 122, Baltimore, MD 21287 in memory of Mary H. Fravel for Macular Degeneration Research.
The family received friends at the Omps Funeral Home, SOUTH Chapel on Route 522 on Sunday, April 8, from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m. The funeral service, conducted by Pastor Clay Knick, began at the Omps South Chapel at 11:00 a.m. on Monday. Friends and family gathered one hour prior to the service.
