Margaret Thigpen

Margaret Thigpen October 6, 1922 – July 4, 2016 Margaret Owens Thigpen, of Wilson passed away Monday, she was 93. Visitation will be held Wednesday, July 6 at Joyner’s Funeral Home, 4100 Raleigh Road Parkway, Wilson from 6:00-7:30 p.m. A graveside service will be held at 10:00 a.m. Thursday, July 7 in Maplewood Cemetery with the Rev. Frank Thigpen officiating. Burial will follow. Mrs. Thigpen was born in the Gardner’s Community to Bettie Forbes and William Herbert Owens. She graduated from Gardners School in 1940 and attended Atlantic Christian College’s business department. She married Edward Lee “Buster” Thigpen in 1944. They lived in Virginia Beach, Virginia until he completed his service in the U.S. Navy. They returned to Wilson and operated a general store in Saratoga before assuming the family farming business. Margaret was known for her cooking, baking, knitting and especially her flower arranging, all of which earned her blue ribbons and best of shows at the Wilson County Fair. She was a member of the Saratoga Garden Club for over 40 years. During her long life, she lived through The Great Depression, was able to attend college, loved her time as a Navy wife during WWII, raised a family and helped care for her grandchildren, as well as participated in civic events such as the Census of 1950 and Saratoga’s Bicentennial Memory Day in 1976. She is survived by her son, Edward Lee \"Eddie\" Thigpen, Jr. of Wilson; daughters, Betty T. Russell and husband, Steve Russell, Sr. of Winston-Salem, and Martha T. Cayton and husband, John Cayton, Jr. of Saratoga; grandchildren, Mike Thigpen of Wilson, Steve Russell, Jr. and wife, Teresa of Greensboro, Natalie Dunham and husband, Aaron of Greenville, South Carolina, Emily Cayton of Wilson, and Edward Cayton of Saratoga; great-grandchildren, Catherine Dunham, and Mac Russell; two special nieces, Lisa Boykin Batts of Wilson and Susan Boykin Hoffman of Spartanburg, South Carolina; and very dear friends Ann Raper of Raleigh and April Privette of Wilson. She was preceded in death by her husband of sixty-five years, Edward Lee “Buster” Thigpen; grandson, Jeffrey Paul \"Jeff\" Thigpen, and her sister, Helen Owens Boykin. Condolences may be directed to www.joyners.net.