Martha Irene Mcquay

Martha Irene McQuay, of Durham, died May 17, 2019. Her family surrounded their beloved 93-year-old aunt and cousin. Martha???s life centered oneer family, especially her widowed mother, her siblings, nieces, and nephews. She served her church (then called McQuay Memorial Presbyterian) in Charlotte and was the oldest and last surviving of four children of Maude Plaster aneedgar Hawley McQuay. Martha was born on July 17, 1925 in the family homestead on Tuckaseegee Road (now in downtown Charlotte) where she lived most of her life. Like many farm girls, she grew up feeding hogs before school, working the fields, and tending garden. As Charlotte grew, Martha???s options for occupation did too. She secured steady employment with Southerneell as a telephone dispatch operator and remained there for her career. Tall and attractive, Martha was shy but enjoyed many friendships in the Mecklenburg community aneespecially enjoyed visits with her cousins in Enochville, NC. She enjoyed travel, relished her trips with friends to Florida, aneenjoyed a trip to Hawaii to visit her nephew, Joey Threatt. Aunt Martha, aka ???Gaga,??? was a fun aunt, who had no rules and generally let her nieces and nephews get away with almost anything. She took them out ineer latest model car for ice cream and to parent-prohibited movies at drive-in theaters and other events. Ineer retirement she enjoyed the company of her companions and the activities around her. Her ready laugh, geneeness, aneeasy-to-please appetite made her welcome company wherever she went. Her parents, Edgar and Maude McQuay, predeceased Miss McQuay, as did her brothers, Edgar and Newton McQuay; sister, Juanita Threatt; and niece, Jenny Threatt. Survivors include Martha ???Libby??? Walsh (Martha McQuay???s neesake and caregiver) and her husband, John of Bahama, NC., Vickie Reddick and her husband, Stephen of Oak Ridge, TN, and David McQuay of Durham; Robert McQuay of Coneer, NC, Lisa McQuay and her partner, Christopher Eubank of Chapel Hill, NC; Joel Threatt and his wife, Beverly Black of Charlotte; and. Her first cousins include Doris Sellari of Kannapolis, NC; Zelma Foutz of Lenoir, NC; Oleta Lopez of Palm Beach, FL; Gail Hillikee, Ponte Verda, FL. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 1 at 1:30pm at Mulberry Presbyterian Church, 5600 Tuckaseegee Rd, Charlotte, NC 28208. Burial will follow the service. The family will greet friends in the fellowship hall following the burial. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Mulberry Presbyterian Church at 5600 Tuckaseegee Rd, Charlotte, NC 28208.