Frances Pauline "Polly" Gatewood

Frances Pauline "Polly" Gatewood, 94, was escorted into the arms of Jesus on Saturday, April 5, 2025, after a period of declining health precipitated by a stroke a year and half previously. She spent her last months at Trinity Elms Nursing Home near Winston-Salem.

Polly was born in Stanleytown, Virginia, to James and Delia, during the Great Depression. The oldest of five, she was raised on a farm in a small community in Southside Virginia near Richmond, listening to old-time country and bluegrass music on the radio, and learning lifelong habits of hard work and frugality. She graduated from the county high school at the top of her class and was proud to be voted "most intellectual." As a young woman, she attended Piedmont Bible Institute in Winston-Salem, where she met the love of her life, John, from rural Georgia. They discovered a shared passion for Christ and particularly for Calvinistic doctrine. They soon were married, making their home in Winston-Salem, and John introduced Polly to an array of new interests, including classical music, the French language — and birding, one of their favorite ways to spend vacations.

In the 1960s they had three children, Jimmy, Rachel, and Eric. In the early 1970s, tragedy struck when John passed away unexpectedly. Polly heroically took on the toughest job in the universe, a widow having to raise a family by herself. Having raised them, she then worked for nearly three decades as a nanny, blessing a series of families and earning the title of World's Best Childcare Professional.

Polly's rural upbringing, plus the hardships she suffered, gave her scrupulous honesty, diligence, toughness, tenacity, and physical strength that were evident even up to the end of her life. Beginning in the late 1980s, she learned the comforting side of the doctrines of grace, first through Rosemont Baptist Church and then Redeemer Presbyterian, where fellow Christ-followers loved her into a measure of freedom from deep struggles with worry and depression. God used all of this to develop a gentle, sweet, compassionate heart in her as well.

Polly took a childlike delight in things like birds, flowers (looking at them, not growing them!), and little kids; she enjoyed word games, discussing (okay, arguing about) grammar and theology (subjects she was very good at), listening to music and the radio, and spending time with family and a handful of close friends. She also liked to say that eating was one of her favorite things to do.

Those welcoming Polly into Heaven included her parents; her husband, John; their firstborn, "Little John”; two miscarried infants, whom she and John will have the joy of naming in Heaven; son Jim; her sister Margaret; her two brothers, Herbie and Linnie; and son-in-law, Brian.

Survivors include her daughter, Rachel; son, Eric; four grandchildren — Jonathan, Nathan (Taylor), Hannah (Oliver), and Sarah; sister Mildred ("Mickey"); several nieces and nephews; and sister-in-law, Irma Goldberg.

The family wishes to thank the kind staff of Hayworth-Miller for their patience and help; Kimberly Neal of Peace Haven Assisted Living for her amazing job as owner, administrator, and all-around hands-on person at the extended-care home where Polly spent most of 2024; the dedicated nursing staff at Trinity Elms, along with their receptionist, Jean; and Mountain Valley Hospice for their compassion and diligence in serving as the hands and feet of Jesus to Polly during her final weeks.

A celebration of Polly's life will be held at Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 1046 Miller Street, Winston-Salem, at 2pm, Saturday, April 26, with Mark Brown leading the service. The family will receive guests at the church prior to the service starting at 12:30pm.

Memorial contributions may be made to Hayworth-Miller Silas Creek Chapel to assist with funeral expenses (336-765-8181), or to The Gideons International, https://www.gideons.org/donate.