THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 11, 1996 TAG: 9609110424
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 23 lines
Grace Ray Dunkum died Sept. 8, 1996.
Born on Aug. 22, 1997, she was the daughter of Frank W. and Otelia S. Dunkum. She was hired as the first woman draftsman for the Seaboard Railroad in 1918 and worked for the railroad until her retirement in 1957. Miss Dunkum was one of the first homeowners in the newly built neighborhood of Cradock. She and her brother, Joseph W. Dunkum, owned and managed as many as 50 properties in the Portsmouth and Norfolk areas. She worked and lived independently until the age of 94, at which time she moved to Richmond.
She is survived by her niece, Grace Virginia Nelson of Richmond; nephew Warren Carter Blow of Silver Spring, Md.; a grand nephew, Joseph Warren Robert Nelson and his wife, Tracy Anderson Nelson and daughter, Megan Nicole Nelson; her grand niece, Susan Otelia Nelson; her sons, David Joseph Nelson, Gavin Alexander Emerson, all of Richmond; and her dear friends, Sarah Miller and Blanch Jackson, both of Portsmouth.
Burial was Tuesday in Oakwood Cemetery, Richmond.
KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY by CNB