Fay Elaine Gwaltney Slaughter Lemmlie passed away at the age of 97 on September 27, 2023. Fay, born in Smithfield, Va. was the daughter of Tessie and Ivan Gwaltney, sister of Vail and Melvin Gwaltney  (all deceased).

She graduated from Smithfield High School in 1943. She was proud of being on the high school tennis team and loved home economics and history.

Following high school, she attended Buxton Hospital Nursing School and became an RN and Army Nurse Cadet.

Fay first worked on the OB/GYN unit in Cuneo Hospital in Chicago. For approximately 30 years she worked at Norfolk General Hospital mainly on the medical/surgical unit. In later years she was head nurse at the Methadone Clinic in Portsmouth.

Fay had two wonderful husbands, married first to William Ralph (Bill) Slaughter for 40 years until his passing in 1986. They had three children, William Thomas, deceased in 2014, Ronald Wesley, deceased 2006 and Pamela Caroline, living in Maryland. She then married James (Jim) Lemmlie who had two children, Debbie, deceased and Laurie, living in Panama. Fay’s hobbies included bridge, gardening, reading and traveling. She loved taking road trips in the U.S., going on cruises and visiting family in the Philippines, Hong Kong and Belgium.

Following Jim’s passing, Fay moved to the Chesapeake Retirement Community in Newport News, where she was surrounded by many friends until her passing.

Fay is survived by her daughter, Pam; her daughters-in-law, Pamela Diane and Shirley; her step-daughter, Laurie; her sister-in-law, Elsie; eight grandchildren: Sean, Kelly, Jennifer, Matt, Jesse, Sandy, Sam (Shona) and Jonathan; three step-grandchildren, Megan, Brennan and Jaime; nine great-grandchildren: Timothy, Jack, Savannah, Joselyn, Mattison, Mayden, Christopher, Jacqueline and Penelope; 2 step great grandchildren, Eli and Finn; and 2 nephews, Gene and Gerald.

A funeral service will be held at 11 AM on Friday, October 5, 2023 at Bethany United Methodist Church, Bethany Church Rd., Smithfield.  A visitation be held from 10 AM until the service. Burial will follow in the church cemetery, with a reception at the church. All are welcome. R.W. Baker & Co. Funeral Home and Crematory, Downtown Suffolk, is serving the family. Condolences may be registered at RWBakerFH.com.