1963
Eva
2014
Eva Marie McCall Haynie
March 12, 1963 — November 23, 2014
Eva Marie McCall Haynie, 51, of Easley, SC passed away Nov. 23, 2014. While the event was well publicized in regional news reports, the devastating circumstances of how she was taken from life cannot begin to possibly overshadow the magnitude in which she lived it.
A fireball of seemingly ceaseless energy, Eva is perhaps best known in her community as a teacher at Chastain Road Elementary school in Liberty, S.C. With nearly 20 years of teaching experience under her belt, she was battle hardened in the ways of the booger-flicking antics of the prepubescent, which made her a sought out fount of wisdom for younger teachers. She thought nothing of slipping into a cheerleading outfit for school spirit days. No gimmick was off the table if it could keep her students engaged in learning.
The job that defined her life, however, was at home. She was a fabulous mother of four young adults, her constant loyal cohorts. She was a drill sergeant, a party planning ninja, grand warden of the pool. She was known to be a bit of a packing sorcerer, thinking nothing of squeezing her four teenage kids and a week's worth of camping gear into a Ford Mustang, forever redefining for them the concept of personal space.
By all reliable accounts, she was a mannerly, attentive and well-loved child who dutifully attended the Methodist church with her family in Bennettsville, SC., sporting perfectly curled hair and spotless dresses. She was a human doll of a by-gone era. It would be a childhood, however, complicated by the pain of not having contact with her father following her parents' divorce. That would change for both her and her sister Debbie when they bravely attended his funeral in 2007. It would mean encountering a family of strangers while grappling with emotions of confronting a father they would never know.
"There you are," Cliff Hayes recalls his half-sister saying to him when they met that day. "I always wanted a little brother," she said before enfolding him in her arms. It was with the same open heart she embraced new-found aunts, an uncle and cousins. With each birthday and holiday, she prioritized making up for lost time.
For Eva, life was theater, the kind that was critically acclaimed and full of glitz and lights. A choose-your-own-adventure. An opportunity to make the most out of each day. She reveled in her children and their individual talents, interests and capabilities. She believed in them and the open road stretching ahead, and expected them to do the same. She held tight to her faith. She was a believer in the power of peer pressure, which she freely wielded to coax the reluctant into costumes, onto horses or to jump off rock cliffs into an emerald green abyss awaiting below. She made things happen, and typically while sporting a glowing tan and an impeccable set of French tip nails. In a world fraught with cynicism, she was the one in the room laughing full bore, leaning in to hear your story. She was always plotting an adventure, always leaving room for one more person. Always captivating. Completely, thoroughly and unabashedly charming. Everyone who knew her was better for having been in her orbit. And in that regard, there could have never, ever been enough time.
Eva is survived by her four children, Rev. Erik Grayson of Charleston, S.C.; Amber Grayson (Anthony) of Jacksonville, Fla.; Kathleen Grayson of Rock Hill, S.C.; and James Grayson, and stepson Jared Haynie of Easley, S.C.; her sister Debbie McCall Davis (Chuck) and family of Rock Hill, S.C.; brother Cliff Hayes (Becky) of Wilmington, N.C., and her mother June McCall of Rock Hill, S.C. She is predeceased by her father Charlie Hayes and stepson Travis Haynie.
Funeral Services will be held Saturday, Nov. 29 at St. Andrew United Methodist Church at 11 a.m., with burial immediately following at Robinson Memorial Gardens.
Visitation will be held at Robinson Funeral Home in downtown Easley Friday, Nov. 28 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Memorials may be made to the JDRF, "Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation", 26 Broadway, New York, NY 10004 or visit their website at http://jdrf.org/get-involved/ways-to-donate/.
Condolences may be expressed online at www.robinsonfuneralhomes.com or in person at Robinson Funeral Home-Downtown, which is assisting the family.
A fireball of seemingly ceaseless energy, Eva is perhaps best known in her community as a teacher at Chastain Road Elementary school in Liberty, S.C. With nearly 20 years of teaching experience under her belt, she was battle hardened in the ways of the booger-flicking antics of the prepubescent, which made her a sought out fount of wisdom for younger teachers. She thought nothing of slipping into a cheerleading outfit for school spirit days. No gimmick was off the table if it could keep her students engaged in learning.
The job that defined her life, however, was at home. She was a fabulous mother of four young adults, her constant loyal cohorts. She was a drill sergeant, a party planning ninja, grand warden of the pool. She was known to be a bit of a packing sorcerer, thinking nothing of squeezing her four teenage kids and a week's worth of camping gear into a Ford Mustang, forever redefining for them the concept of personal space.
By all reliable accounts, she was a mannerly, attentive and well-loved child who dutifully attended the Methodist church with her family in Bennettsville, SC., sporting perfectly curled hair and spotless dresses. She was a human doll of a by-gone era. It would be a childhood, however, complicated by the pain of not having contact with her father following her parents' divorce. That would change for both her and her sister Debbie when they bravely attended his funeral in 2007. It would mean encountering a family of strangers while grappling with emotions of confronting a father they would never know.
"There you are," Cliff Hayes recalls his half-sister saying to him when they met that day. "I always wanted a little brother," she said before enfolding him in her arms. It was with the same open heart she embraced new-found aunts, an uncle and cousins. With each birthday and holiday, she prioritized making up for lost time.
For Eva, life was theater, the kind that was critically acclaimed and full of glitz and lights. A choose-your-own-adventure. An opportunity to make the most out of each day. She reveled in her children and their individual talents, interests and capabilities. She believed in them and the open road stretching ahead, and expected them to do the same. She held tight to her faith. She was a believer in the power of peer pressure, which she freely wielded to coax the reluctant into costumes, onto horses or to jump off rock cliffs into an emerald green abyss awaiting below. She made things happen, and typically while sporting a glowing tan and an impeccable set of French tip nails. In a world fraught with cynicism, she was the one in the room laughing full bore, leaning in to hear your story. She was always plotting an adventure, always leaving room for one more person. Always captivating. Completely, thoroughly and unabashedly charming. Everyone who knew her was better for having been in her orbit. And in that regard, there could have never, ever been enough time.
Eva is survived by her four children, Rev. Erik Grayson of Charleston, S.C.; Amber Grayson (Anthony) of Jacksonville, Fla.; Kathleen Grayson of Rock Hill, S.C.; and James Grayson, and stepson Jared Haynie of Easley, S.C.; her sister Debbie McCall Davis (Chuck) and family of Rock Hill, S.C.; brother Cliff Hayes (Becky) of Wilmington, N.C., and her mother June McCall of Rock Hill, S.C. She is predeceased by her father Charlie Hayes and stepson Travis Haynie.
Funeral Services will be held Saturday, Nov. 29 at St. Andrew United Methodist Church at 11 a.m., with burial immediately following at Robinson Memorial Gardens.
Visitation will be held at Robinson Funeral Home in downtown Easley Friday, Nov. 28 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Memorials may be made to the JDRF, "Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation", 26 Broadway, New York, NY 10004 or visit their website at http://jdrf.org/get-involved/ways-to-donate/.
Condolences may be expressed online at www.robinsonfuneralhomes.com or in person at Robinson Funeral Home-Downtown, which is assisting the family.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Eva Marie McCall Haynie, please visit our flower store.
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