Ogla Mae Gwyn

Mrs. Ogla Mae Herring Gwyn, 86, of Mount Airy, passed away Sunday morning, December 29, 2019, at the Joan and Howard Woltz Hospice Home in Dobson.  Mrs. Gwyn was born May 13, 1933, in Surry County, the younger of two daughters born to the late Felix Edgar Herring and Lexa White Herring Bunker.  Ogla was reared on a farm in the White Plains community.  In 1951, she graduated from Mount Airy High School.  She then attended Guilford College, where she earned a teacher’s certificate in elementary education.  She was hired as a teacher for the second class for mentally disabled children in the Surry County School System in 1965, by J.C. Hiatt, principal of Franklin Elementary School.  Gwyn taught at Franklin Elementary School for eight years, and then she moved to the old Rockford Street School auditorium, which is now the Andy Griffith Playhouse.  Gwyn’s daughters became extremely busy with activities once they entered high school, so Gwyn began substitute teaching from grades kindergarten through twelfth.  In 1985, Ogla became the manager for a group home for mentally disabled adults.  She retired from this post in 2004, after 20 years of dedication to the mentally disabled in the Surry County community.  Mrs. Gwyn was a longtime member of Mount Airy Friends Meeting, where she taught Sunday school and Bible school and sang in the choir.  She is survived by her husband of 64 years, Robert A. Gwyn, Jr. of the home; two daughters and sons-in-law, Laura and Bill Horton and Lisa and Greg Booker, all of Mount Airy; a granddaughter, Heather Horton of Mount Airy; a grandson, Beau Booker of Winston-Salem; and a sister, Edna Herring Stanley of Mount Airy.  A service of worship and celebration of Ogla’s life will be held Saturday, January 4, 2020, at 2:00 PM at Mount Airy Friends Meeting, with Dr. Jon Cawley officiating.  A private interment will be held at White Plains Baptist Church Cemetery.  In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Mount Airy Friends Meeting, 109 West Wilson Street, Mount Airy, NC  27030; or the Joan and Howard Woltz Hospice Home, 945 Zephyr Road, Dobson, NC  27017.  Moody Funeral Services in Mount Airy is serving the family.