Grace ‘Gracie’ Ruark deValinger
WILMINGTON — Sadly, Grace ‘Gracie’ Ruark deValinger, 72, was taken from us Saturday, May 22, 2021. Thus, ending this story of a beautiful soul.
The bundle of joy known as Mary Grace Ruark burst forth into this world Jan 5, 1949, to proud parents, Frank and Margaret “Mickey” Ruark in Evanston, Illinois. Along with her barely older brother, Bart, the family resettled in Winston-Salem in 1957, from where the kids eventually spread their wings and flew the coop.
Known to the family as “Mary,” she went to camp one year in her early teens, where there were seven girls named Mary. Always wanting to be her own person and “doing it her way,” she decided she wanted to be called Grace. So Grace it was! When her friends would call on the phone, we’d call upstairs for Mary, and they would say, “No, I want to talk to Grace.” I had to reassure them they were one and the same and that they weren’t dealing with a split personality.