Grace Sale Wilson

Grace Sale Wilson, 93, died on April 10, 2026, in Asheville, North Carolina.

Born in Welch, West Virginia, to Ann Meriwether Anderson Sale and William Goodridge Sale, she graduated from Charleston (WV) High School in 1950 and from Duke University in 1954.

Grace married Walter Quinten Wilson and they made their home in Hampton, VA for fifty years. In retirement, they moved to Millwood, VA, and later she moved to Asheville, NC.
She was an active member of many organizations, including Alpha Phi International Fraternity, the First Presbyterian Church in Hampton, VA, the Kecoughtan Literary Society, the Pembroke Garden Club, the Susan Constant Committee of the National Society of the Colonial Dames in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the State Arboretum of Virginia, and the Greenwood Garden Club.

Grace is survived by her daughters: Dr. Anne Meriwether Wilson and her husband, Dr. Alexander Tudhope of Little Spott, Dunbar, Scotland; Frances Wilson Smyth and her husband, the Rev. William Emory Smyth of Asheville, NC; and Dr. Carolyn Scott Wilson and her husband, Charles Henry Schutte of Millwood, VA. She is also survived by four siblings: Jane Sale Henley of Weems, VA; Dr. William G. Sale, Jr. of Boulder, CO; The Rev. Meriwether Anderson Sale of Harrisonburg, VA; and Nell Graham Sale of Santa Fe, NM. She has four grandchildren: Hallie Grace Payne, Dr. Sara Dean Schwager, Grace Jackson Schutte, and Scott Morgan Schutte; and six great-grandchildren: Nell Meriwether Goldsmith, Hazel Alice Goldsmith, Eleanor Carolyn Schwager, Layla James Schutte, Henry Fielding Schutte, and Iris Dean Schutte.

A private graveside service will be held at Locust Hill Graveyard in Ivy, Virginia. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made by mail or online to her favorite garden, The Foundation of the State Arboretum (FOSA), 400 Blandy Farm Lane, Boyce, Virginia 22620.

Groce Funeral Home’s Lake Julian team is assisting the family.