Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Prescott loses icon with Westmoreland death

Prescott suffered an irreplaceable loss with the death of Rachel Westmoreland, 81.

Death claimed her Monday, August 4, 2003, at Medical Park Hospital in Hope.

Westmoreland touched the lives of hundreds of students during her 39-year teaching career.

Howard Austin, principal of Prescott Elementary School, said she is one lady he really admired because she inspired people to keep a good attitude.

"This town will miss her," he said. "She was a joy to meet. I worked with her for 20 years. She touched the lives of many children in a positive way."

Austin said Westmoreland was born with the ability to reach people and never met a stranger.

She opened the minds of her students, he said, and never got angry or lost control, no matter what the situation.

"It was a pleasure to see her every day," Austin said, "she was always positive. She was a unique lady."

She was born January 8, 1922, at Prescott, the daughter of Walter Sherwood Black and Leda Lambert Black.

She was the youngest graduate in the Prescott High School Class of 1938 and had recently enjoyed her 65 class reunion. She attended Magnolia A&M College and received her Bachelor of Education Degree from Henderson State Teachers College. She taught in the Prescott Public School System for 39 years, retiring in 1986; Teacher of the Year in 1984. A highlight of her life was in 1999 when she received the Prescott-Nevada County Chamber "Treasure of Gold Award", bestowed on people who dedicate their lives to serving others in the community. In May, she was named the oldest mother present on Mothers Day at Mt. Moriah United Methodist Church. She was honored by her family with an open house on her 79th birthday. She was a longtime member of the First United Methodist Church of Prescott, where she married Jerry Gilbert Westmoreland, Sr. on July 21, 1944, he died in 1989.

Mary Godwin, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce remembers Westmoreland as always being around town helping people.

"She would stick her head in the door (of the Chamber office) and tell a joke or poem," Godwin said. "She was always sending us letters saying we were doing a good job. She was a source of encouragement to a lot of people."

She was also preceded in death by her parents and by her brother, Walter Sherwood Black, Jr. She was well known for her quick wit and poems she wrote and shared with many, many people.

Her survivors include: two sons, Rev. Jerry G. Westmoreland of Prescott and Jim Westmoreland and Debra of N. Little Rock; three grandchildren, Jonathan Westmoreland and Lacey of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, April Westmoreland of San Diego, Calif. and Carmen McWhorter and Jon of Corinth, Tex.; one great-granddaughter, Connar of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada; and a very special adopted sister, Dorothy Grimes of Prescott.

Funeral services were 2 p.m., Thursday, August 7, 2003, at First United Methodist Church of Prescott with Rev. Jerry G. Westmoreland and Rev. Jim Lenderman officiating. Burial was in Westmoreland Cemetery in Prescott. Arrangements by Brazzel/Cornish Funeral Home in Prescott.

Family received friends Wednesday, August 6, 2003, from 6-8 p.m. at Brazzel/Cornish Funeral Home. Memorials may be made to First United Methodist Church, Prescott; Harmony, Emmet; and Mount Moriah United Methodist Churches; and/or the Westmoreland Cemetery Fund.

Westmoreland requested a poem she had written be read at her funeral services. The poem was entitled "Please Don't Cry".

It reads as follows:

Please don't cry when I

must leave,

Remember that I've asked

you not to grieve.

You've don kind things

every day,

And you've given me

flowers along the way.

Thanks to God's

forgiving grace,

There'll be loved ones

there I've longed to see,

and I know that they've

been watching for me.

So take care of yourselves

and continue to be the

wonderful folks you've

been for me!