RACHEL EVELYN SWEARINGEN MCLEOD

It is with great sadness that the children of Rachel Evelyn Swearingen McLeod announce her death at The Terrace at Grove Park in Dothan, Alabama on August 17, 2018. She was 92 years old. Prior to her retirement to The Terrace in 2013, she was a long-time resident of Donalsonville, Georgia“Miss Rachel,” as she was known by the Donalsonville community, was one of four daughters born to Rufus Darley and Carrie Lee Vaughan Swearingen of Vienna, (Dooly County) Georgia. She was born April 17, 1926 and grew up in the Pleasant Valley Community near Vienna. She graduated from Dooly County High School, and entered nursing school at Mercy Hospital in Macon, Georgia in 1942. Miss Rachel graduated as a Registered Nurse from Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in 1945, and shortly thereafter moved to Donalsonville to assist Dr. Baxley and Dr. Jenkins in re-opening the Donalsonville Hospital following WWII. Since that time, Miss Rachel has been known throughout the Donalsonville and Seminole County community for her compassion and caring for the sick both professionally and personally. She was called to enter the field of nursing at a very young age, and throughout her active life she was dedicated to serving those who were sick, injured, or in need of compassion. She served in this capacity as a private duty nurse, floor nurse, Director of Nursing at the Donalsonville Hospital, and Operating Room Supervisor at Bainbridge Memorial Hospital. Before and after her retirement, Miss Rachel provided loving support to many friends and family members as they recovered from surgery, suffered illness, and dealt with personal sadness and tragedy. She provided comfort and compassion to many of these same friends and family as they faced their final days in their earthly lives. Miss Rachel was greatly loved by all who knew her, and she will be deeply missed by those whose lives she touched.Miss Rachel is preceded in death by her husband of fifty years, Robert McIntosh McLeod, Jr. (Mr. Bob), and two sisters, Carolyn Swearingen Jordan and Barbara Swearingen Langford. She is survived by a sister, Mrs. W.H. Hurdle, Jr. (Betty), of Macon, GA, her children Rebecca and Max McAtee of Oak Ridge, NC, Robert and Carol McLeod of Acworth, GA, and Joel and Patricia McLeod of Dothan, AL. Her grandchildren Sam McAtee, Robert McAtee, Anna (McLeod) and Gabe Trawick, Lee McLeod, and Carrie (McLeod) and Hoke Harper as well as her great-grandchildren Gage Trawick, Harper McLeod, Finn Harper, Carter McAtee, Nathan McAtee, and Bailey McAtee will join their parents, grandparents, and several nieces and nephews to mourn her passing.Prior to her retirement to The Terrace, Miss Rachel was a long-time member of the First Presbyterian Church in Donalsonville where she enjoyed regular participation in Sunday School, the Wana Liddell Circle, and the Women of the Church. Following her retirement to The Terrace, she was in regular attendance at Evergreen Presbyterian Church in Dothan, where she made many new friends and acquaintances.A Celebration in honor of Miss Rachel’s earthly life will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Donalsonville at 2:00 PM on Thursday, August 23. The family will receive visitors in the church prior to the service at 1:00 PM. Interment will follow the service at Friendship Cemetery in Donalsonville, Georgia. Rev. Joseph Johnson, Pastor of Evergreen Presbyterian Church, Dothan, and Rev. Raymond Guterman, Interim Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Donalsonville, will officiate.In lieu of flowers, the family requests that remembrances be made in her honor to the First Presbyterian Church in Donalsonville or to the Evergreen Presbyterian Church in Dothan.