Lucy Hill Gidley

Lucy Hill Gidley passed away peacefully on March 17 ending her nearly two-year battle with cancer. Born November 22, 1956, in Winston-Salem, the second child of Thomas Gardner Gidley and Margaret Norfleet Gidley, she was predeceased by her parents and her younger sister Eleanor Lyle Gidley.

Lucy spent her first years living within her beloved Tanglewood Park where her Daddy served as the park's manager. Subsequently moving with her family to the Meadowbrook neighborhood, she attended Clemmons Elementary and eventually West Forsyth High School. Upon graduation Lucy spent two years in Raleigh at Saint Mary's Junior College where she was a proud member of "The Cold Cuts" musical ensemble. In 1979 she graduated from the University of North Carolina where she studied in the newly created discipline of Recreation Therapy. At Carolina, Lucy made several lifelong friends from her membership in the Kappa Delta sorority.

In the 1980s Lucy returned to the Triad where she worked for several years designing and selling custom swimming pools. Along the way she was active in Winston-Salem's Junior League where she coordinated many of the organization's social events. Her knack for planning events and her superb people skills led her to a job with Salem College. There in the 1990's, she treated every assignment as if it were her own private affair, serving as the perfect hostess, attending to every detail. Two decades later she continued to enjoy her career in hospitality, working stints at Bermuda Run Country Club and then at the Winmock event center in Davie County.

Lucy had a smile that would light up a room. She always made new friends wherever she worked and in 1998 she made one she ultimately married in 2015, Vinnie Whitt. She first caught Vinnie's eye at Salem College, planning another event, decked out in her iconic ponytail and grosgrain ribbon. They were together soon thereafter, eventually trading in two Ardmore houses for the house in Clemmons where Lucy's family had raised her decades earlier.

In addition to her loving husband Vinnie, Lucy is survived by her sister, Gary Ritz (Jeff); brother, Tom Gidley; nieces, Suzanna Ritz Malliett (Clay) and Gabriela Gidley; nephews, Jackson Ritz and Thomas Gidley Ill; and brother-in-law, Keith Whitt (Jennifer).

A memorial service will be held on Thursday March 21 at 2:00 pm at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church with Father Stephen Rice officiating. A reception at the church will follow the service. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Kate B. Reynolds Hospice Home, St. Timothy's Episcopal Church, or a charitable organization of your choice.

Online condolences may be made at www.hayworth-miller.com