Alice Virginia "Maggie" Stanton

Alice Virginia “Maggie” Stanton passed away Friday, April 15, 2022, at her Beckley home, peacefully, in her sleep. She would have celebrated her 97th birthday on Mother’s Day.

Born May 8, 1925, at Twin Branch, W.Va., Maggie was the daughter of the late William and Ollie (Carroll) Payne.

Maggie graduated from Mullens High School at the top of her class and went on to attend nursing school in Charleston as a member of the Cadet Nurse Corps of World War II. She spent her career working as a Registered Nurse at the Beckley VA Hospital from the time it opened in 1951 until she retired in the early 1990s.

In 2014, she and her sister, Terri, also a Cadet Corps nurse, were featured in an issue of Goldenseal Magazine.  A few years later, she was honored to serve as the keynote speaker at the Charleston General Hospital School of Nursing reunion; she was the oldest nurse alumna in attendance.

Maggie was an avid reader and gardener, a devoted fan of AM talk radio, and a member of Mabscott United Methodist Church. She enjoyed discussing politics and the Holy Bible, and she never backed down from a debate involving either subject. With a lifelong desire to further education and improve healthcare, Maggie donated her body to the West Virginia University School of Medicine.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Jack Emlyn Stanton, a son, William David Stanton, and a daughter-in-law, Jo Ann Stanton. She was the last surviving member of eight siblings, Lee L. Payne, George Payne, Bill Payne, James Payne, Ruth Halsey, Nell Lester, and Wyvonna “Terri” Ring.

Maggie is survived by a son, James Jeffrey Stanton of Beckley, who had been her faithful caregiver and housemate; three granddaughters, Audrey Stanton-Smith of Lester, Rebecca Mann of Richmond, Va., and Cassie Cope; and a grandson, Stephen Stanton. She was great-grandmother to Jon David Schwitzerlette and Graydon Hawk Smith of Lester, and Jackson Wilde Mann, Josie Anna Mann, Gunner Wolfe Mann, and Virginia “Ginna” Mann of Richmond, Va.; and an aunt and great-aunt to several beloved nieces and nephews.

Per Maggie’s request, there will be no funeral service. Memorial donations are welcome at Hope in the Mountains, Inc., (a community outreach for Raleigh and Wyoming counties supported by Maggie’s church and others) P.O. Box 1675, Sophia, WV 25921, or the charity of your choice

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