Janice Eleanor Beavon Gravely

ROCKY MOUNT - Born nearly 100 years ago, Janice Eleanor Beavon Gravely died Tuesday, December 15, 2020. She was born May 9, 1921 in Spokane, WA, the daughter of Lottie Jane Bowns and David Edwin Beavon. She was preceded in death by her husband, Edmund Keen Gravely, her brother, David Kent Beavon and her sister, Jeanne Beavon Clary; her son Peyton Kent Gravely, and infant daughter, Meredith Elaine Gravely. She is survived by her son Edmund Keen Gravely, Jr. (Ashlin) of Rocky Mount, daughters Jane Candace Gravely and Louise Gravely Hughes (John) both of Rocky Mount, her daughter-in-law, Kim Hill Gravely of Westfield, NC; grandchildren Peyton Kent Gravely, Jr. (Bonnie) of Westfield, NC, Sharon Gravely Hamilton (Benjamin) of Mobile, AL, Angelyn Frances Gravely of Durham, NC, and David Winston Gravely of Portland, OR, Edmund Keen Gravely III of Raleigh, NC, Anna Beavon Gravely of Raleigh, NC, John Edward Hughes III (Devon) of Tokyo, Japan, Rebecca Eleanor Hughes of Birmingham, UK, Jeremiah Elisha David Hughes and Joshua Edmund Hughes, both of Rocky Mount, NC, along with two foster daughters, Tim Sirimonkol of Bangkok, Thailand, and Tam Sirimonkol Siddhichai (Tum) of Raleigh, NC. Raised in Los Angeles, CA, Janice grew up during the Great Depression, her family at times sharing their home with other families in distress. She graduated from the University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA); she was valedictorian and president of her graduating class, and she graduated with honors. She was also president of her sorority, Tri Delta, and a member of Mortar Board, a national honor society. During her junior year at UCLA, after Pearl Harbor, she determined to serve after graduation, when she was commissioned into the Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). She asked for duty station on either coast and was assigned to the Naval Station in Olathe, Kansas, where she met Lieutenant Junior Grade Ed Gravely, who was a naval aviator instructor. They married at Love Field, TX on May 7, 1944. After the war, Janice and Edmund moved to Rocky Mount, NC, where he joined the family business, China American Tobacco Company, which had been founded by his grandfather. Through his business dealings in Thailand, he met Lert Sirimonkol, who asked Janice and Edmund to host his four daughters. After Tim and Tam's parents and two younger sisters died in an automobile accident, they remained part of the Gravely family. Transitioning from California to North Carolina, Janice knit her life into the extended Gravely family in Rocky Mount and into Southern life. She was a member of the Junior Guild of Rocky Mount, served on the Rocky Mount public school board of education, taught for a time at RM Wilson Junior High School, and was a Girl Scout troop leader. She was an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and Colonial Dames. In her thirties, she became an avid painter, using all media - watercolors, pastels, charcoal, and oils; she continued until earlier this year. The walls of her and others' homes have become galleries of paintings in oils and watercolors, capturing years of her own and her children's lives, trips to Europe, Israel, and Russia, as well as summers in Roaring Gap, NC. Her work was featured at the Dunn Center Mims Gallery at NC Wesleyan College. In 2011, her "Flags on Falls Road from the Memorial to the Mill: One Nation - Under God" was on exhibit at the Imperial Art Center, Rocky Mount, NC, and her self-portrait was hung at the NC Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC. Later she was chosen as Wilson, NC's Artist of the Month. On a bitterly cold Sunday morning, January 10, 1982, Janice and Edmund flew to Statesville, GA in his single-engine Mooney 20 to accept his custom-made, newly purchased sailplane. Shortly into the flight, at 6000 feet, Edmund suffered a massive heart attack, leaving Janice to fly and land the plane by herself. The first of her two books, Won't Somebody Help Me!, tells how she wrestled the plane down, without help or training, only to crash short of a frozen field because she ran out of fuel. From the clear-cut forest crash site, she crawled several hundred yards to a house, where a nurse lived and saved her from freezing in the 8-degree winter weather. Surviving that miraculous crash with a fractured pelvis, broken ribs, a collapsed lung and internal injuries, she recovered and embarked on a new career - inspirational speaker and author. The story of escaping sure death became national news and was featured in the November 1982's Readers Digest, propelling her to an international platform, including Russia, China, Israel and Europe, as well as all over the United States. Janice was an active member of a number of churches in Rocky Mount - First United Methodist, West Mount Emanuel Holiness, Grace Covenant, Ridgecrest Worship Center, First Baptist and Christ Covenant. In the late 1960s, when charismatic renewal stirred many people across the country, she was among them. Her second book, Ground Level Christianity, detailed her walk of faith in Jesus. She was a frequent contributor to the Rocky Mount Evening Telegram, known for her strong advocacy of faith, individual responsibility, and hope for the United States. Janice worked with area ministers to hold noon prayer at City Hall on the National Day of Prayer, and conceived a way for churches and individuals to read aloud the entire Bible in a single day, to declare the importance of the Bible in our nation's life. In 2018, she was inducted into the Twin Counties Hall of Fame and recently received Rocky Mount's Distinguished Citizen Award from Mayor Sandy Roberson. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in her memory to Peacemakers, Your Choice Pregnancy Center, or other charitable organization. A Celebration of Janice's Life will be held on Friday, December 18, 2020 at 2:00 PM at Englewood Presbyterian Church, 100 S. Englewood Drive, Rocky Mount, NC 27804, with Rev. Dr. Rob Westlund officiating, after a private family burial at Pineview Cemetery. The family would like to extend their heartfelt gratitude to Community Home Care & Hospice and to Amada Senior Care for their excellent care and compassion. Arrangements entrusted to Wheeler & Woodlief Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 1130 N. Winstead Avenue, Rocky Mount, NC 27804. You may share memories and condolences with the family by visiting www.wheelerwoodlief.com. Service Englewood Presbyterian Church 100 S. Englewood Drive Rocky Mount, NC 27804 ID ) ); ?>"> --> 252-443-3127 --> | Friday 12/18, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm A Celebration of Janice's Life will be held on Friday, December 18, 2020 at 2:00 PM at Englewood Presbyterian Church, 100 S. Englewood Drive, Rocky Mount, NC 27804, with Rev. Dr. Rob Westlund officiating. Cemetery Pineview Cemetery 761 N. Raleigh Road Rocky Mount, NC 27801 A private family burial will be held at Pineview Cemetery.