|
My sad duty is to inform you that we've lost another dear classmate, Laurie Talley (Covington). Here is her obituary:
.png)
April 6, 2026
Laurie Anne Talley Covington of Richmond, Va., passed away on Monday, April 6, after an active life in education.
Mrs. Covington was a native of Richmond and graduated in 1968 from Huguenot High School, where she was an active member of the Future Teachers of America. She continued on to Westhampton College and graduated in 1972 with a major in Latin and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In the same year, she married Richard "Dick" Covington, a US Naval Academy graduate and Submariner. Her time as a Navy wife took her to Connecticut briefly before settling her in Charleston, S.C., where she took her first job teaching Latin at the First Baptist School. In 1987, she moved to Northern Virginia and obtained a position teaching Latin at Flint Hill School in Oakton, Va. She would go on to serve as the Department Chair for the program for nearly two decades and coached numerous State and National Championship certamen teams, turning Flint Hill into one of the preeminent Latin programs in the nation throughout the 1990s and 2000s. She served on the boards of the Medusa Mythology Exam, the Virginia Junior Classical League, and the Classical Association of Virginia, which awarded her the Angela Lloyd Book Award for excellence in Latin education in 2005. In 2008, she was recognized by Flint Hill School with the Driving Spirit Award for her energetic and inspirational work in the school community.
After a brief retirement in 2009, Mrs. Covington returned to school at George Mason University to pursue a Master's in School Counseling. She graduated with the Academic Program Award from the Counseling Department in 2012 and began work as a School Counselor at CD Hylton High School in Woodbridge, Va., until her final retirement in 2021.
Over the years, Mrs. Covington was known as a "second mother" to so many of her students, and she inspired countless students to pursue their love of Classics into college, with many of them becoming Latin teachers themselves. A born educator, her warmth, compassion, wit, and willingness to do anything for her students made her a cornerstone experience for an entire generation of students at Flint Hill.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 32 years, Cdr Richard Benjamin Covington; and her parents, Charles R. Talley Sr. and Anne Marie Talley. She is survived by her son, Richard Talley Covington (Kelsey) of Chesapeake; and her brother, Charles R. Talley Jr. (Therese) of Midlothian. She also is survived by her two grandsons, Tripp Talley Covington and Cooper Mackenzie Covington.
The family welcomes all to join them for a memorial service to be held at Westhampton Memorial and Cremation Park in Richmond, Va., on Monday, April 20 at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Classical League at aclclassics.org. Arrangements have been entrusted to Altmeyer Funeral Home.
|
Robbie Richardson
Today's email about Buck's passing came as another surprise following all of the others that Bill faithfully sends out year after year. It lead me to the class page that I check on from time-to-time. And I saw this one about Laurie.
I read the Richmond Times Dispatch online from my residence in Florida and can usually keep up with the obituaries, but when Laurie passed I was out of the country.
Her's hit me hard. My family arrived in Richmond June of 1958 from Norfolk. I attended thrird grade at Forest View Elementary off Janke Road and moved to Southampton Elementary as soon as it opened to attend fourth through the seventh grades. Then boom! No middle-school, right into high school with all of the big kids, and where some of the teachers, as best as I can recall, were probably in their early to mid-twenties. They seemed so old and mature. Laurie was a familiar classmate for all of those years.
Upon arriving in town my family decided to attend a little mission church along Cherokee Road and it was there in Sunday School that I first saw a pretty little blonde haired girl with blue eyes. But you know, being eight years old every little guy thought girls had cooties. It's a cover for being bashful. Laurie was smart, confident, and a nice person.
Years passed. I can't remember if her family moved to a different church or not. We moved in different circles at school, and she became close with Bill in high school and then they married. Bill was a nice guy. They were a good match.
You may recall that I finished my senior year in Florida after my dad was transfered with his employment. I went kicking and screaming, and yet, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. Shirley's family arrived in town at the same time and we met the first day of school, and my life became complete.
I do remember a delightful encounter with Laurie at the 20th reunion after I had returned and was living in Midlothian and she and Bill, I think, were still at Charleston. We had a another pleansant encounter at the 25th reunion and Laurie was so delighted to share that her and Bill's son had been born. It wasn't until the 50th reunion before I saw her again, and with it the sense of having a whole lifetime having passed and that she had lost Bill in 2005 and I lost Shirley in 2014. It's a lousy club to be a member of. But I was grateful for another brief visit.
Somehow I figured that given the opportunity to attend another class reunion, that like the infrequent times before, I would enjoy another visit to get caught up on how her life was going, and I could tell her about mine.
She sure loved her son and his family.
Back at the fifty year reunion, having residing in northern Virginia for many years, she told me that she would like to move back to Richmond. But her heart strings must have pulled her to Chesapeake to be closer to her son and his family. She was a proud and happy grandma.
Time passes so quickly and waits for no one.
Rest in peace little blonde haired girl with beautiful blue eyes, and may your memory be a blessing to all who you loved.