In Memoriam: Rachel Beasley Rochford
(August 6, 1933 – January 29, 2023)
Rachel Beasley (Rochford) was born at the height of the Great Depression, in the cotton-mill village of Mayodan NC to Elmo and Lillian Price Beasley. Though her household struggled to hold together in those lean years, Rachel showed early pluck as a standout in her little town, gaining a reputation for a quick wit, artistic talent, and tenacious work. (Though at 4’10” she was no basketball star, she loved to recount how, when taking her turn as center for Mayodan High, she once shocked an opponent who reasoned that the jump ball wouldn’t be contested. It was, and “Little Rae” got it.)
Raised primarily by her grandmother, Rachel’s curiously focused determination and potential drew the attention of a kindly art teacher, who encouraged her to apply to Greensboro College. Though her family had little resources to bring to bear, Rachel did apply, and worked jobs like switchboard operator to carry her through to graduation in 1956. She bought a ’55 Chevy and took a job as Director of Christian Education at First Methodist Church of Sanford, Florida, where she met a handsome naval aviator named David Rochford, whom she married in 1959. Rachel would teach elementary school in Florida and later in New York City, where Dave worked for an unsatisfying year at a bank. (Her Carolina accent proved something of a novelty in Manhattan: one concerned parent called the principal after the first day of class, because according to her first-grade son “the new teacher is Chinese and I didn’t understand a word she said.”)
The Rochfords eventually retreated to a cabin in the woods of Oakton VA, where they would welcome a son in 1967. Rachel stayed busy, serving as head of the Vale Home Demonstration Club and president of the PTA, playing tennis, and making sure that despite the proto-suburban nature of Fairfax County, her son had plenty of opportunities to pursue new interests, like those she once had sought out for herself.
In time, she would relocate to Danville VA to help care for her first grandchild, a role Rachel would reprise for two more grandsons, in Williamsburg, Roanoke and Staunton VA. She made sure that her charges spent time in the woods, delighting in sunlight through the trees, glimpses of forest creatures and the reliable entertainment posed by bugs, which she insisted no one should harm.
Given a diagnosis of dementia in 2019, Rachel continued to take vigorous walks, chaperone Youth Group events and meticulously follow football for as long as she could, watching with delight as her older grandsons played (in the High School marching band). A faithful participant in Christian community her entire life, she delighted in churches large and small, and made friends in each with the same winsome, witty, and gracious spirit that made “Little Rae” stand out back in Mayodan.
Rachel leaves a joyful example for son Rev. Dave and daughter-and-law Dr. Lisa Gerrard Rochford of Williamsburg VA, grandsons Ben, Jon and Alden, sons-in-spirit Christian and Donn, and many friends. Rachel claimed the promise of Resurrection on January 29, 2023, grateful at last to receive from Jesus all that she had forgotten and some things for which she’d always waited, including the blessed rest of those who serve others with profound gratitude for the life we’ve been given.
Rachel will be remembered on Friday, Feb. 24 at a 2PM service at Williamsburg United Methodist Church, 500 Jamestown Rd., Williamsburg VA, and on Saturday, Feb. 25 at a brief 2PM graveside service at Vale United Methodist Church, 11528 Vale Rd., Oakton VA.
In lieu of flowers, those wishing to make a gift in honor of Rachel may do so to their local Humane Society/Animal Shelter, or to the Respite Care ministry of Williamsburg United Methodist Church (address above), which provides extraordinary care for adults with memory loss and their families.
Rachel will be missed, but we find little room in our hearts for grief, given all the gratitude we feel to God that at last she is whole, and at home.
