Marcia Vail's Obituary
Marcia (aka: Marsha) Hooks Underwood (Peterson) Vail, 94, of Lakeland, Fla. died January 22, 2023 at the Arbor Oaks Assisted Living Facility in Lakeland. Marcia was born June 18, 1928 in Wilson Mills, North Carolina, to V.J. and Minnie Underwood and is the last survivor of her 7 siblings: Frances (Jacquelyne) Pittman, Merle Oneta Thornton, V.J. Underwood JR., William (Billy) Harrison Underwood, Marvin Jackson Underwood, Doris Allene Trabant, and Jo Evelyn McClenny,
For many years her father, V.J. Underwood, was the Johnston County coroner and a funeral director at Underwood Funeral Home in Smithfield, N.C.
Surviving are her children from the marriage with Ben H. Peterson, Sr: Ben H. Peterson, Jr. and wife Annmarie of Naperville, Illinois, Deborah Anne Wamsley of Charlotte, N.C., and in Oak Hill, Florida, Jonathan J. Peterson and wife (deceased) Mary Elizabeth. She leaves 5 grand-children and 5 great-grand-children.
Surviving her marriage with George Vail, Sr., in the Lakeland, Fl. area, are George Vail, Sr., George Vail Jr. (wife Bea), Glenda Downey (husband John), three step grandsons, and one great step grandson.
In the no stop-light town of Smithfield, N.C. as a young nurse walking to work in 1947, she was crossing route 301 and happened to meet her future husband, Ben, a Navy veteran. They soon eloped to Dillon, S.C. Their three children were subsequently born and raised in Smithfield. In 1964, a sales-promotion lead Ben and family to the sleepy little town of Orlando, Fla. where she continued her nursing career at Orange Memorial Hospital. After Ben’s death in 1978, she met and married George Vail, a Korean War veteran and an Eastern Air Lines employee.
As with Ben, she and George shared a love for the Florida sun, seashores, boating and fishing opportunities and taught water aerobics at the Yacht Club. Marcia loved dancing to the 40’s music. She utilized her green thumb mentoring her gardenias. She always reflected a positive outlook, always spoke her mind and enjoyed many happy years with family and friends.
Marcia’s remains were placed at rest in the Bushnell Veteran Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida.
What’s your fondest memory of Marcia?
What’s a lesson you learned from Marcia?
Share a story where Marcia's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Marcia you’ll never forget.
How did Marcia make you smile?
