Rachel Alexander McMahan, 67, went to be with the Lord on Thursday, Jan 21, 2021 after a short, valiant battle with cancer.  She is a child of God and is celebrating in Heaven with all her family and friends who have preceded her.  Well done, good and faithful servant!

Rachel is survived by her husband of 44 years, Tom; children, Reed McMahan, Micah (Jeanette) McMahan, and Faith (Steve) Hayden; siblings, Roy (Linda) Alexander, Rebekah (Derek) Maul, Joe (Cheryl) Alexander and Jesse (Heather) Alexander, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Rachel was born in Waynesboro, GA, on January 5, 1954 to Robert and Nelle Alexander.  She moved to Leesburg, FL., in 1966.  She graduated from Leesburg High School in 1972 and from Agnes Scott College in 1976, which was her childhood goal to obtain one of those “black graduation rings.”  During her junior year at Agnes Scott, she met the love of her life, Tom, a senior at Georgia Institute of Technology and Navy ROTC student.  They married in the summer of 1976.

Rachel was the epitome of the get-involved Mom.  She was a Tiger Cub, Brownie, Cub Scout and Boy Scout leader.  She was a voracious volunteer for school function, church activities, family reunions, neighborhood events, Little League, dance, soccer, and anything else for which she participated.  She was devoted to Providence Presbyterian Church which become her family’s home church in 1985.  She served as Sunday School teacher for elementary children, high school students and adults.  Her musical talents were utilized conducting and playing piano for the children’s choir.  She established the small group, Parents of Graduates (POGS), served on numerous committees became an ordained elder and served several times on the Pastor nominating Committee.  She was also a staunch supporter of Bible Study Fellowship as a student and group leader for many, many years.  She did all this while Tom was in the cruising period of his Naval career.

If that was not enough, Rachel went back to school and obtained her teaching degree from Wesleyan College and later completed her Master’s Degree as a reading specialist from Old Dominion University.  Ultimately, she was hired as a reading specialist at Osar Smith High School.  In addition, she became an instructor for the Barton Reading and Spelling System for dyslexia.  This was her passion, helping young children with reading issues, especially dyslexia.  She tutored students on her off time after school.  She worked for the Chesapeake School System for 13 years before finally retiring in 2016.

Tom retired from his post Navy career position with the Joint Staff in August 2019.  They spent the entire month of September touring California, driving the entire length of the Pacific Coast Highway and visiting with Faith and Steve in Temecula.  Traveling was curtailed in 2020 due to Covid.

A family grave side service will be held at the Albert G Horton, Jr. Memorial Veterans Cemetery, 0900, Monday, 28 June 2021.  A memorial service will be held the same day at 1130, at Providence Presbyterian Church.  In leu of flowers, Rachel prefers donations be sent to either Life Outreach International (Mission Feeding): https://my.lifetoday.org/give or American Cancer Society: https://donate3.cancer.org.

For those who are unable to attend the memorial service in person, the service will be broadcast on Zoom.  Join the Zoom meeting at link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82372497488?pwd=ck92ZGtWS1N3NDhUNURMdVFJblBCZz09

Meeting ID: 823 7249 7488                           Passcode: 025114