May is the month we honour all the mums, so it is fitting that we feature one particular mum who has definitely made a difference in our church….

SPOTLIGHT
ON
GRACE OLEASE TOMKINSON DRIGGERS

Grace was born in 1917 to Grace Prudence Weaver Tomkinson and Charles Day Tomkinson. The second of five children, she was most fortunate to grow up in a loving, caring family. Grace's father, Charles, was a handsome man, a hard worker who was loved by all. He worked in an engineering firm which meant much travel. Grace's mum, Prudence, was a lady of many talents. Her beautiful alto voice accompanied her piano playing; she excelled at handcrafts; she was a skilled needle woman, making clothes for all.

Charles was transferred to Florida in 1925. A trip to Florida with three small children can be difficult at the best of times, but even more difficult is making the journey with a wife who is expecting the fourth child. Fortunately, a brother lived in Florence, SC, and the family stopped to visit. To no-one's surprise Miss Basaraba Elizabeth Tomkinson made her entry into the world on August 20th. Prudence stayed in Florence for a month until she was well enough to travel, then she and the expanded family continued their journey to Plant City in Florida.

Grace has strong memories of school in Florida: several grades were taught in the same room, she enjoyed lessons and was a good student. She has one other strong memory of Florida: she remembers going to pick strawberries….and being called down for eating too many!

The family moved from Florida to Charleston, with Grace attending Courtenay Elementary school. Always an honour roll student, Grace moved on to Meminger High School. Times were difficult for families during that time of the depression, and near the end of her schooling Grace left to find a job to help support the family. It took all the working members in the family of eight to keep things together. Grace would eventually go back to school, obtain her GED and take college courses.

It wasn't all work, young Grace loved to dance the popular dances of the day: the Charleston, the Foxtrot and Waltzes. At that time, Charleston was home to the Navy, and street dances were popular ways to keep the troops entertained. Grace's mum was not very happy with the idea of the combination of sailors and street dances, and told her to not to attend. Would you believe that our very own proper Ms. Grace of today was a bit of a handful in her youth? The cheeky young thing defied her mum and went to the dances, she had no thought of getting into mischief, she just wanted to dance!

About this time, Bubba ( a.k.a. Ely Edward Driggers ) came into the picture….he worked for the American Tobacco Company, and each day rode to work on a beautiful bicycle. At that time Grace and her family lived on King St. near Broad, she got a job at the same company, and seeing the bike parked one day… calmly took it for a spin around the block! Grace and her sister used to go to Ashley Park each Friday and Saturday night to dance. One evening her sister was dancing with Bubba and introduced him formally to Grace. Grace belonged to a theatre group called the Charleston Flappers, Bubba would accompany her and watch her sing. They began going for sedate drives, in a borrowed car, to the Battery or to Hampton. The drives were chaperoned by Grace's brother. Grace's father had strict criteria for anyone wishing to date/marry one of his daughters, among these were the requirements that the man belong to a church (Grace worshipped at St. Luke's - now the Cathedral ) and have a steady job. Bubba was a cradle Episcopalian and had a job…he was suitable! Grace has many memories of her younger life with Bubba including participating in a Marathon Dance which lasted five hours. When Grace wasn't quite 18, she and Bubba decided to marry, and went to Savannah, Georgia for a ceremony before a Justice of the Peace. Grace's mum was disappointed because she had wanted her daughter to marry in a church, but God's hand must have guided the marriage because it lasted more than 60 years.

Grace and Bubba moved to North Charleston, a very different community in those days, and, seeing the need, opened a small feed store. Bubba worked at the Navy Yard and Grace ran the store. If, like me, you weren't fortunate enough to have met Bubba, you might not know that his handiwork graces many parts of our church. He was a gifted welder with a particular skill for making precision tools. Among other things, he made the wrought iron railings in front of our church, a music lectern and an Advent wreath. Being a welder was pretty hard going on skin and clothes, which is probably why their son, Eddie, vetoed the idea when Lennis - his wife - thought she would very much like Bubba to teach her to weld. Apparently, one permanently charred family member was enough!

Speaking of their son reminds me to mention that Grace and Bubba had five children: four girls and the aforementioned Eddie. Grace is proud of all her children who were all raised in the Episcopal faith, all being christened in our church in the days when it was Good Shepherd. All the girls were married there, and Eddie and Lennis had a service of blessing there after their marriage in Walterboro, which is where Lennis was raised. All her children have done well with their chosen careers.

Before ill health took its' toll on Grace, she was very active in our church. A past Vestry member, she began the tradition of the Pancake Supper on Shrove Tuesday, and the tradition of the Soup and Bread luncheon on Palm Sunday. As ECW president, she began the Advent dinner tradition. The first dinner, with carol singing, far exceeded expectations. All the traditions are still a cherished part of our church year.

While she was a member of the Altar Guild, Grace heard from parishioners that the church really needed a funeral pall. Wishing to give a memorial to the church in memory of her father, Grace spoke to Fr. Holby (rector at that time) about the possibility of giving a Pall. He suggested that she purchase a kit and have volunteers help her stitch it. With the help of Louise Scarborough, Gertrude Mullinax, Flo Wooldridge, Jackie Bryant and Sheila Turner, and cheered on by Louise Felkel, the Pall was cut and stitched - by hand - on top of protective paper on the floor of Good Shepherd hall. The Pall is still used at each funeral. The needle women, at the urging of Susan Magette, eventually found an appropriate name for their group: St. Rose's Guild.

Grace firmly believes she has a relationship with the Lord, and insight to minister where needed. She began an Outreach Ministry visiting non-communicants, knowing that a 'warm body', i.e. a personal visit, was much more appreciated than cards or 'phone calls. Feeling that it was her ministry to care for people, and finding it rewarding to visit the lonely people, Grace knew she was doing what the Lord had called her to do.

There are many more stories of Grace's work in the church, but there was still more going on in her life. As time passed and the area changed, the need for a feed store diminished and they closed the business. Grace studied at Baptist College and became a substitute teacher at Morningside school. School activities have played a large part in her life, she was the first elected president of Morningside school and on Arbor Day planted oak trees which are still flourishing.

Grace can trace her family back many generations and is a member of the D.A.R. and Daughters of the Confederacy. She has fond memories of her grandparents' home which she loved, and has written her memories of time spent there. She remembers being fascinated by country life and the farm, so very different from the convenience of town life. Country people worked hard all day long to support themselves, and she gets her philosophy from her grandparents who had little but shared much.

Grace loves her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and talks of tea parties shared with them. Although confined to a wheel chair for much of the time, she talks of the ministries she is still able to support and various things which still interest her. Having traveled so much in her youth, she has been perfectly content to stay put in her adult years. When Bubba died, Eddie and Lennis, compassionately, gave up their home in order to move in with her and take care of her, thus she is able to stay in her own home. Asked what she thought was important about her ministry, Grace responds that she is glad that she is drawn to the needy, that she has the capacity to love the people that some would call 'unloveable'. Her final words of wisdom are: "Try to be a true person - true to yourself."

Once again, this article doesn't begin to tell all of Ms. Grace's story, she has many more memories to share, but I hope this gives you some idea of who she is and the good work she has accomplished during her life thus far.