Elizabeth Brice

WILSON - Elizabeth McLean Brice died on Sunday, November 9.

Elizabeth was born in Wilson on August 24, 1938 and was the daughter of Effie Elizabeth Fike McLean and Charles Blount McLean. She was predeceased by her parents.

Funeral, Wednesday, 11 AM, First Methodist Church, followed by a time of visiting and sharing.

Elizabeth attended Wilson City schools and graduated from Charles L. Coon High School. She graduated from Salem College in 1960 with a BA degree and teacher's certificate. She married Franklin Bryan (Sonny) Brice, also of Wilson, in 1961. They have two boys, Franklin Bryan Brice, Jr. and Charles McLean Brice.

Over the years, Elizabeth substitute-taught in the Wilson school system and taught Latin at Fike High School during the mid/late 1960s. Her love of education, reading and independent thinking were paramount in the upbringing of her children.

She worked at the old Arts Council on Gray Street for 10 years. During this time she was very active in Playhouse and many theatrical endeavors - whether backstage with props or as stage manager, or on the stage as an actress, including one of her signature roles as "Ouiser" in Steel Magnolias. She enjoyed all plays and thespian pursuits, and especially enjoyed the camaraderie of her theater friends.

Elizabeth was a lifetime member of the First Methodist Church of Wilson. She loved books of all kinds and was an avid reader and was a member of The Book Club of Wilson for 25 years. The Book Club is over 100 years old and Elizabeth's mother and grandmother (Gertrude McLean) were both past members.

Elizabeth loved The New Yorker magazine, to which her subscription, still current, dated from the early 1960s. Travel to New York City, and attending theater there, were highlight trips for her through the years.

A group of ten friends with whom she graduated from Salem, known by all as "The Salem Girls," reunited annually for the past 27 years at her beach cottage in Morehead. The cottage on Bogue Sound served as a pivotal point of Luz and Sonny's life, where they spent many happy summers with their children, grandchildren and friends.

The happiest part of her life over the last 13 years was being a grandmother - "Lillibet", as she was affectionately called by her grandchildren, who were the light of her life. Certain of her closest friends called her this also.

Surviving are her husband of 52 years, Franklin Bryan Brice; son, Franklin Bryan Brice, Jr. and wife, Carson, grandchildren Stephen Bayard Brice, Elizabeth Minta Brice and Cordelia Anna Brice, all of Raleigh and son, Charles McLean Brice; cousins, Mary Hadley Fike Griffin, Louise Fike and Llewellyn Fike Ramsey.

It is Elizabeth's wish that in lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Salem College, 601 S. Church St, Winston Salem, NC 27101-5318 or to the Wilson County Humane Society, PO Box 7064, Wilson, NC 27895-7064.