Margaret B. Long

Margaret Elizabeth Booth Long, 91, wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend, died October 20th. She was preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Martin M. Long, and their son, Chuck Long.

Margaret was born December 17, 1918, in Diascund, Virginia, the youngest of five children born to Charles Baker Booth and Margaret Alice Fudge. Originally christened "Elizabeth," her father changed her name to Margaret in memory of his wife, who died in the flu epidemic of 1918, six days after their daughter's birth. Margaret and her brothers and sister moved to Seven Mile Ford, Virginia, where they were raised by her father and beloved grandmother, Mary Caroline Dungan "Grammaw".

Margaret attended Chilhowie High School and Marion College, where she played basketball and earned a degree in business administration in 1939. She paid her college expenses working in the college post office and bank.

She moved to Kingsport in the 1940s and worked as a clerk at Tennessee Eastman Company and at Mason Dixon Lines, where she met the "perfect gentleman" who would later become her husband. She married Martin on April 13, 1946 at First Broad Street United Methodist Church in Kingsport.

As a wife, she fished, hunted and camped alongside her husband, teaching all her children to appreciate the outdoors and family time. As a homemaker, she cooked, played the piano, knitted, crocheted, and sewed, making hundreds of afghans, garments, and doll clothes. She loved crafts, devoured newspapers, and could solve any high school algebra problem. Margaret had her own tool box and could put up sheetrock, lay brick, and fix almost anything. She loved travel and observing the scenery and clouds. She also taught Sunday School and worked in the church nursery.

In 1967, Margaret began teaching business courses at Whitney Business College, a school she previously attended. In 1971 she purchased the school and served as its president until 1974. She was a charter member of the Kingsport Lioness Club and a member of the Kingsport Altrusa Club. She served as a leader in the Salvation Army Girl Guard program. In 2006, she was awarded the Melvin Jones Fellow Award by Lions Club International for her community service, a recognition she cherished.

As a mother, she taught her children to appreciate education, to love family and to be a good friend and neighbor. She loved and was very proud of her seven grandchildren. In her final months, she was completely blind, but marveled on all that she had seen in her life. She loved spring, fall, Christmas, roses, and pansies, especially in purple and yellow.

Survivors include her daughters Cindy Bob DeVane of Johnson City, TN; Mary Doug Goeringer Zuhr of Oak Ridge, TN; and Margaret Bill Stapleton of Plantation, FL; son Jim Long of Kingsport; grandchildren Erin Long of New Orleans, LA; Haley Long of Riveria Beach, FL; Erica Zuhr of Gainesville, FL; Jud Aurora Perry of Weisbaden, Germany; John Perry of Johnson City; Kathryn Stapleton of Orlando, FL and Marty Long of Kingsport. She is also survived by three nieces and a nephew.

Following a private interment Friday at the family cemetery in Chilhowie, a memorial service will be held at Broadmore Senior Living, Johnson City on Saturday, Oct. 23rd at 2:00pm. The family will receive friends there in the hour preceding the service or anytime at the DeVane home.

For those wishing to make a memorial gift, the family suggests Medical Center Hospice, Alzheimers' Association of Johnson City, or Lions Club of Kingsport / Box 3366 / Kingsport, TN 37664-0366.

The family wishes to express their deep appreciation to the Broadmore staff, Medical Center Hospice, their private care helpers, and to her home church, First Broad Street Methodist in Kingsport. Also, their appreciation goes to First Christian and Munsey Methodist, who "adopted" their Mother in Johnson City and faithfully served her until her passing.