Jacqueline Segar Gravatt

Jaqueline Segar Epes Gravatt, age 75, passed away peacefully on December 23, 2024. Segar was predeceased by her parents, John Segar Epes Gravatt and Isbell Turnbull Gravatt, and by her partner of 35 years, Audrey Slavin. She is survived by her stepdaughter, Shannon Hess, and her husband, Erik, and son Liam of Carson City, Nevada; her twin sister, Stuart Gravatt and her husband,  Richard Nicula, of Richmond, Virginia; her sister Mary Gravatt Crawford of Birmingham, Alabama; and her niece, Rebecca Eubanks and her husband, Jeffry, and children Crawford, Andrew, and Kathleen of Birmingham, Alabama.

Segar was a graduate of St. Margaret’s School, Tappahannock, VA; Queens College, Charlotte, NC; and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC. Segar’s life’s work was helping other people. She began her professional career in the early ‘70’s as a recreational therapist, teaching horseback riding to children with disabilities at the Arthur Godfrey Equestrian Center in Loudon County, VA. She subsequently worked as activities director at the Zuni Presbyterian Training Center for adults with disabilities, in Zuni, VA. In the early 80’s, she was “called” to the ministry and entered Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, VA where she graduated with a Doctor of Divinity degree. She went on to spend a year at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria before her ordination in 1985 as a Deacon in the Episcopal Church. She worked as a “permanent” deacon for 14 years, primarily as a chaplain, in various settings in Tidewater VA, including Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and Westminster-Canterbury. In 1999, she was ordained as a priest—the first woman to be ordained a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Southern VA—and joined All Saints Episcopal Church in Virginia Beach, VA as Associate Rector, where she remained until her retirement in 2016.

Segar’s warmth, empathy, and sense of humor will be missed by all who knew her.

A memorial service will be held for Segar at All Saints Episcopal Church, Virginia Beach, at 11 a.m. on Saturday, February 1, 2025. Interment will be private.

Donations in her memory may be made to All Saints Episcopal Church, 1969 Woodside Lane,| Virginia Beach, VA 23454, or St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, P. O. Box 36/ 424 South Main Street, Blackstone, Virginia 23824.
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