Opal Belton Doss Spratt

Opal Belton Doss Spratt, 91, passed away peacefully at the home of her daughter and son-in-law, Selma and Richard Brown of Lorton, VA, on Saturday, August 11, 2007. She was born January 4, 1916, in Mount Airy, NC, to the late Kim Columbus Belton and Carrie Auburn Belton. She graduated from Mount Airy High School in 1933. In 1950, she moved with her late husband, George Chester Doss, and five children to Washington, DC from Mount Airy. A gifted seamstress, she managed fabric stores in Alexandria and designed window treatments for Washington's finest homes. For 17 years, she was with the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind in DC, where she developed and managed a department of over 40 non-sighted employees in the production of goods for the U.S. Commissary's. She designed the first prototype reflective vest using Velcro that was later adopted and produced for school patrols, police, and emergency personnel nationwide. She married the late Dillard Spratt in 1975. After retiring from the Lighthouse for the Blind, she continued working with adults with disabilities in Washington, DC. She loved music, playing the piano, her family and her many friends in the Greenbelt community. She was a member of the Greenbelt Baptist Church. She was the beloved mother of Saundra "Sandy" Pearson of King George, VA, Selma Lynn Brown, Lorton, VA, Rebecca Smith of Tucumcari, New Mexico, and the late Chester Kim Doss and Carrie Trudy Holder. Survivors also include her eight grandchildren; eleven great-grandchildren; a great-great-grandson; and a sister, Dorothy Wagoner of Charlotte. Two beloved grandchildren, Christopher McGaha Brown and Dana Christensen Wilson, predeceased her. Funeral services were held at the Greenbelt Baptist Church, Greenbelt, MD, at 11:00 AM Thursday, August 16. The family will receive friends Saturday, August 18 from 12:30 to 2:00 PM at Moody Funeral Home in Mount Airy. Interment will follow in the White Plains Baptist Church Cemetery.