Tammie Grayson It is with great sadness that we announce that Tammie Renai Grayson, an angel on earth, has joined her fellow angels in heaven. After a lengthy bout with pneumonia, Tammie traveled to her happy place, the beaches at Dam Neck Naval Base South of Virginia Beach. She became ill during the trip to the beach and the next day was transported to Sentara Princess Anne Hospital by rescue squad. Shortly after she arrived at the hospital on 7 June, she was placed in a hospital room where she had a severe heart attack. Her heart, which had been weakened by her many bouts with pneumonia, was not pumping sufficient blood to support her organs so her kidneys and liver shut down and she went into septic shock Tuesday evening. Despite heroic efforts of the ICU staff at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital, she was declining quickly and became unresponsive Wednesday evening. Thursday afternoon, 9 June, with her husband of 43 years and her sister at her side, life support was removed in accordance with her wishes, and she joined her fellow angels in heaven. Born in Billings Montana to Betty and James MacIntosh on 30 September 1958, Tammie moved back to West Memphis Arkansas to live with her mother's parents at about age three. Her sister Marla was born when she was about four. Tammie and her family moved around the country and she attended multiple elementary schools as the family moved. When the family was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, Tammie attended Princess Anne High School for eighth through tenth grades. She loved her school and made many friends due to her wonderful personality. She loved being a member of the drill team and frequently spent Fridays and Saturday's roller skating at a local skating rink with her sister and their friends. She also loved driving her Chevelle SS-396 convertible up and down Virginia Beach and Atlantic Boulevards. At the end of her sophomore year, she moved with her family to Monterey California where she attended Valley Christian Academy, completing all graduation requirements in California and graduating at 16. The highlight of her time in California is participating in the Ms. Marina beauty contest and winning the contest due to her beauty, personality, and talent. As a result, she qualified for the Ms. California pageant, but her family moved back to Virginia Beach where she enrolled in Old Dominion University working on a degree in education. She completed her degree, earning Bachelor of Education degrees in Library Science and Elementary Education. After she graduated from ODU, she loved spending time at the beach, her happy place, with her friends. During one of those beach outing at Dam Neck Naval Base beach, she caught the eye of a young Naval officer who was attending courses at the Fleet Combat Training Center. It was love at first sight. He mustered up the courage to approach such a stunningly beautiful young woman and found her to have a wonderful personality in addition to her beauty. They agreed to meet at the Oceana Officer's Club that night. As the young Naval Officer, Jim Grayson, waited nervously for her to arrive, she finally walked in and they spent the entire evening dancing together. He asked for her number when the evening ended and regretfully watched her walk away. Unfortunately, he lost her number and could not find it despite a frantic search of his car and BOQ room. Determined to find her, he started asking officers at the training center if they knew a Navy lieutenant with two beautiful daughters, one brunette and one redhead. As luck would have it, he found out her name and number and called her immediately to ask her our on a date. That was Monday. They also went out on a date on Tuesday and at the end of that date, Jim asked Tammie to marry him while sitting on the steps of the walkover adjacent to the Bachelor Officer's Quarters. She said yes because it was apparently love at first sight for her. They were married November 24th, 1979, at Thalia Lynn Baptist Church in a traditional wedding with the Navy tradition of the bride and groom walking out of the church under the crossed swords of Jim Grayson's shipmates and friends. Tammie moved many times during Jim's twenty year military career, taking care of her son and the house and all the other things that military wives must deal with when their husbands are so frequently away. During her career as a librarian, she worked at Kirk-Cone Elementary School in Chesapeake, Virginia, Gunston Elementary School in Fairfax Virginia, and finished her career at Rodney Thompson Middle School was she was nominated for Library Media Specialist of the Year which resulted in her being selected as Library Media Specialist of the year for the entire state of Virginia. Tammie planned the wedding of her son Josh to Kim in 2008 and the wedding could not have been done better by a highly paid wedding planner. Josh and Kim had two beautiful daughters, Baylee in August 2011 and Dakota in 2012. Tammie loved her grandchildren dearly and devoted her life to their care and wellbeing. They stayed with Tammie and Jim every other weekend until their mom tragically passed away in December 2016. At that time, both girls started living with Tammie and Jim in their retirement home in Stafford County. Tammie devoted every minute of every day to her grandchildren. Shopping for clothes, arranging for sports camps, arranging for horseback riding lessons and any other thing the girls wanted or needed was her mission in life. Unfortunately, during the past four years, Tammie has had multiple surgeries for orthopedic issues in her feet, knees, back, shoulder and neck. She has also suffered through multiple hospitalizations for heart and lung issues largely related to her Rheumatoid arthritis. Despite her health struggles and chronically high levels of pain, she remained steadfast and strong, seldom letting her brilliant smile leave her face or her sunny disposition clouded. Tammie was a stunningly beautiful woman, but her inner beauty surpassed her beautiful appearance. She was loved by everybody who ever knew her and that is not even a little bit of an exaggeration. Her kindness, generosity, compassion, and thoughtfulness knew no bounds. Throughout Tammie's adult life, her sister, Marla Fentress, who she loved dearly, was a constant source of companionship and the kind of support only a sister can provide. They talked nearly every day, supporting each other through the difficulties that life brings. Tammie Renai Grayson's funeral service will be held at Quantico National Cemetery at 2:00 on 1 July 2022 immediately followed by a Remembrance Reception at Shirley Heim Middle School located at 320 Telegraph Road, Stafford, Virginia. Reverend Scott Covington, a longtime friend, will conduct the burial service followed by a eulogy delivered by Tammie's husband of fourth three years, Commander James E. Grayson, USN, retired. Guests for the funeral service should arrive at the cemetery at 1:30, turn right just after entering the gate and line up in one of the lanes next to the cemetery administrative center behind Jim's sand colored 2016 Tundra. At 2:00, the cemetery staff will lead the procession of vehicles to the pavilion where the burial service will be conducted. Once at the pavilion, guests will park and walk over to the pavilion for the service. After the service, guests are invited to Shirley Heim Middle School for a remembrance reception hosted by Jim and Tammie's many friends in Stafford County Public Schools. Guests for the service are invited to park at Shirley Heim Middle School, which is a short distance from the cemetery, and carpool to the service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Tammie's name to the American Heart Association.

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