Rachel Kepley Edmiston

Obituary: Mrs. Rachel Mae Kepley Edmiston, age 90, died on June 11, 2018 at home in Kannapolis, after a brief illness, surrounded by family, dear friends, and loving caregivers. She was born in Salisbury, NC on November 20, 1927, in her Gantt grandparents home on Fulton St. Her parents were Thomas Oscar Kepley and Helen Gould Gantt Kepley, previously of Mitchell Ave, in Salisbury. She only lived in two homes in Salisbury. She moved with her parents when she was in the first grade to the Mitchell Avenue address. She lived there until she married her husband Ed, December 22, 1950. Her brother Thomas Howard Kepley, Sr., husband Ed Gray Edmiston, and older son the Rev. Todd Gray Edmiston preceded her in death. She is survived by her younger son, B. Gantt Edmiston (Cary, NC), fiancé Tiffany R. Adams, her daughter Victoria, (Raleigh NC), a grandson, Robert Thomas Edmiston (Studio City, CA) and his fiancé Rachael Angell. She has a number of cousins, sisters-in-law, nieces, and nephews. Rachel moved with her husband to Kannapolis in 1951. She taught English and Language Arts for 30 years in the Kannapolis City School system. Teaching, traveling, flowers, and reading were her great interests. She especially held her former students with sincere endearment. She enjoyed traveling to most of the major countries of the world; was well known for the roses that she and her husband grew, and she was a member of two book clubs. She previous was a member of the Kneeling Gardeners Club, the Kannapolis History Associates, and the NC Retired Teachers in Kannapolis. She was also an avid supporter of the Kannapolis City Schools, and loved to play Bridge. She loved the NC State Wolfpack! Mrs Edmiston was an honor graduate of Boyden (now Salisbury) high school. She attended Salem College in Winston Salem, NC, for two years before transferring to Catawba College in Salisbury where she earned an AB degree with a double major in English and Social Studies. She also earned a Masters of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in English and Curriculum Development, in 1976. She is a member of Kimball Lutheran Church in Kannapolis. A memorial service will be held there on Saturday, June 16, 2018 at 4:00 pm by the Reverends John Futterer and Liz Fisher. The family will receive friends prior from 2:30 to 4:00 at church. Burial will follow at Back Creek Presbyterian Church cemetery in Mt Ulla, NC next her husband and son Todd. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Occoneechee Council, BSA, 3231 Atlantic Ave., Raleigh, NC, 27604, in memory of Rachel Edmiston. Whitleys in Kannapolis is handling the arrangements.
Visitation: 2:30 to 4:00 PM Saturday June 16, 2018 Kimball Lutheran Church

Service: 4:00 PM Saturday June 16, 2018 Kimball Lutheran Church

Interment: Back Creek Presbyterian Church Cemetery Mt. Ulla, NC