Maxine Rebecca Reams Boyds | Eastern NC Now

    Maxine Rebecca Reams Boyd, beloved, beautiful and gentle matriarch of her family, passed away Sunday, Sept. 28, at her home in Tarboro, NC in the company of her loving husband and daughter.

    Becky stole the heart of her husband and best friend, Thomas Chapman Boyd, 55 years ago and the two were inseparable for life.

    She raised a daughter in whom she instilled a strong sense of right and wrong; a love for culture and animals of all stripes, and a desire to help the less fortunate in her community.

    Becky was a true Southern Steel Magnolia, always prim and proper, always polite, but firm in her determination not to be railroaded or to ignore wrongdoing. She rarely raised her voice, having perfected the art of raising one eyebrow and dispensing a single glance to immediately bring her family to heel.

    She never despaired of trying to set straight her son in law, though she admitted he tried her patience at times.

    And she developed in her granddaughters a strong sense of self worth and a love of learning that will serve them their entire lives. Respect for one's elders, politeness to others and the importance of never raising one's voice were nonnegotiable tenets of Grammie's child-raising philosophy.

    Becky was born in Spring Hope, NC on July 28, 1934 to Essie and Ollie Reams. She was a beauty with a sense of adventure that took her to New York City to learn modeling, and a brief career as a flight attendant for Capitol Airlines, where she was based in Chicago and New Orleans. She counted Elvis Presley among her early passengers.

    She came home with plans to go to school to learn French so she could bid on international routes. But during that sabbatical her heart was captured by Thomas, and she happily settled down in Eastern North Carolina to raise a family.

    Becky was a lover of animals, and fortunate was the stray who came calling on her home.

    She instilled her thirst for knowledge and appreciation for the arts in her family and passed on her love of travel and interest in other cultures to her daughter and granddaughters. She loved spending weekends at the family cottage on the Pungo and later in their retirement home in Florida. In her later years she enjoyed traveling with her family to Bruges, Paris, Brussels, London, Venice and the Mosel valley of Germany, where she immersed herself in the arts and culture she enjoyed.

    Her pastimes included growing and arranging beautiful flowers and entertaining her family and friends. She had a lovely singing voice, enjoyed good music of all genres, and insisted her youngest granddaughter apply her obvious talent for the piano, even when she would have rather been doing something more fun.

    She gave generously of her time, serving as an officer in the Tarboro Women's Club, the altar guild of Calvary Episcopal Church, and serving various charitable causes. Before retirement she was a licensed real estate broker and insurance agent at Barnhart Insurance Agency.

    Her 23-year battle with cancer was fought on her own terms, and though it ravaged her body, it never destroyed her spirit. Toward the end her doctors expressed amazement that she outlived many patients who, unlike Becky, submitted to drastic treatments that she felt would destroy her quality of life and her dignity.

    Her "no regrets" approach to life and her recognition of life's many blessings are her legacy to us.

    She was preceded in death by her mother and father Essie and Ollie Reams and her sister Beverly Reams Bailey. She leaves behind to cherish her memory her husband Thomas of Tarboro; her daughter and son-in-law Kimberly and Digby Solomon of Williamsburg, VA; granddaughters Alexandra Solomon of Williamsburg and Erika Solomon of Beirut, Lebanon; her beloved sister-in-law Vernell Boyd Douglas and her husband Steve of Washington, NC; brother Don Reams; sister Jean McLain, and her nephews and their wives: Keith and Rosie Douglas, Timmy and Cindy Douglas, and Tommy and Kim Douglas, all of Washington, and many other cherished relatives and friends.

    A celebration of her life will be held at 11:00 am, Wednesday, October 1, 2014, in the chapel of Hillside Funeral Service officiated by Pastor Tony Krantz. Burial will follow in Oakdale Cemetery. A catered reception will follow the burial at Flair by Sharon, 3973 U.S. Highway 264 East, Washington.

    The family will receive friends prior to the service, beginning at 9:30 am, at Hillside Funeral Service.

    Memorials may be made in Becky's memory to American Cancer Society, 930-B Wellness Dr., Greenville, NC 27834 or to the charity of the donor's choice.