Barney and Grace Shrader
Barney and Grace Shrader came to Warrenton in July 1971 and soon joined Saint James’ Church — not just as members, but involved to a degree that they became pillars of the church.
Grace (1933-2011) volunteered as wedding coordinator, choir member, head of Episcopal Church Women, and served on the Vestry. For years, she worked with the Altar Guild to identify and inventory church silver, brass, hangings and vestments that culminated in a photographic record and description of precious memorials and gifts, objects cared for by the guild.
Barney (1931-2024) served multiple times as a member of Vestry, junior warden and usher. He was a devoted husband and back-up for Grace, and his loyal service to Saint James’ continued until he moved to Williamsburg in 2018.
Mary Morton ‘Magdalene’ Walker
In August 1998, Grace reminisced about a Warrenton resident who loved Saint James’ and to whom Saint James’ had reached out over the years. Her account, in part, follows:
I was working at the Election Polls on November 7, 1972, when I heard the Fire Engines, Police, and the Rescue Squad responding to a call. Later, I found out about the very tragic death of Mary “Magdalene” Walker in a fire at her home on Taylor Street. My thoughts roamed back to the many times my family and I had seen her around Warrenton, and of her ties to St. James’.
Mary was, shall we say, a harmless eccentric. She loved self-adornment. She made her colorful outfits, and I must say, she was quite a sight to behold. Her black hair was very long under her very full, gathered headgear. Her medium dark face was powdered with very white powder and her full, wide lips were heavily glossed with red lipstick. She always wore a full, ruffled collared cape over her long, seasonal colored skirt and bodice. She also wore colorful stockings with her sneakers. She carried a large carpetbag wherever she went. (Her appearance caused our two daughters to proclaim, ‘She looks like Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother!’)
Mary would come to a St. James’ Sunday service and would sit quietly with her carpetbag. I was told, “If she sat by a mother with a baby, she would open her bag, pull out material, and start making a matching outfit of the one she was wearing for the baby.” (I never saw her do this, though.)
There are many stories about Mary, but this is one of my favorites: Senator Byrd’s campaign headquarters were next door to St. James’ in the Kirby Building. Mary “Magdalene” went in and picked up quite a few “Vote for Byrd” bumper stickers. When several altar guild members came into the church to prepare for Sunday services, they found the Byrd stickers carefully plastered to the frontal of the main altar! When removing them, the rector David Greer, commented that this was the nearest this candidate was ever likely to get to heaven!
Another recollection
The late parishioner Jeanne Davis also remembered Mary. In 1982, she wrote:
Mary was one of the most colorful members of the St. James’ family – and she WAS a member of our family. Mary was an original – one of a kind. Her love of color and of elegant clothing led her to wear flounce upon flounce until one could scarcely tell what was Mary and what her costume. She topped this off with a towering black wig and elaborate headdresses. On the Fourth of July her turban was a small American flag, with her costume a larger flag, draped toga-fashion from one shoulder.
She rarely missed a wedding or a funeral, and regularly attended one, if not both, Sunday services. Noting the changing colors of the altar hangings, she inquired of David Greer, then Rector, as to the reason for the change. He explained the church seasons and the symbolism of the colors to her in some detail. Thereafter, she made a conscious effort to coordinate the color of her spectacular costumes to the altar hangings….
Mary Magdalene eventually became an official member of St. James’. She was not without financial resources, but had become very suspicious of banks…that led her to keep her money in cash and close to her person. The tragic fire that took her life also destroyed her life savings. It seemed most fitting that contributions from St. James’ members covered her funeral expenses, procured a burial plot and a fitting headstone in Warrenton Cemetery, and that she was buried from St. James’ with Mr. Greer officiating. Mary was so much a part of the community that all the stores on Main Street were closed on the day of her funeral.
With her love of color and pageantry, this gentle soul is surely walking the golden streets with a rainbow ‘round her shoulders’!
This essay was originally published in 2016 to mark the bicentennial of Saint James’ Warrenton.
