Mrs. Lavender was valedictorian of her class and attended Coker College and returned to her community and was employed as a postal clerk, school teacher, and insurance agent for more than 30 years. For nine years, she participated in the New Zion Fourth of July Parade as the "Belle of New Zion," riding in everything from golf carts to a Thunderbird. As the "Belle of New Zion," she also rode in the 2007 Turbeville Christmas Parade as honorary grand marshal. She wrote a book about her life for each of her children and grandchildren. She and a dear friend, Pat Goodwin, surprised her family by giving them a DVD of her life story for Christmas in 2007. Along with her nephew, Bobby Gibbons, she compiled one of her most rewarding contributions to her family - the Gibbons Family Pictorial Book, dating back to her great-great-grandparents in the 1700s. Mrs. Lavender was a master of cross stitching and with her wonderful smile and personality she never met a stranger. She lived alone in her later years and loved the out of doors, taking special pride in her yard. She was a good wife, mother and grandmother.