Marion Chrisco

Mrs. Marion Maxine Gerringer Chrisco, 90, of Winston-Salem passed away Tuesday, September 29, 2020 at Trellis Supportive Care. Maxine was born in Beaufort County, NC to the late James Dover Gerringer and Lillian Prichard Chrisco on December 28, 1929. Maxine grew up on a sharecropping tobacco farm where she learned life-long lessons about hard work and perseverance.  She met, and apparently immediately fell in love with, her husband Ty on a blind date right after he returned home from his Navy service in the Korean war.  That love continued and grew for over sixty years.  Throughout that time, they shared a devotion to their faith in Jesus Christ and to genuinely and tangibly loving and serving their neighbors. She worked briefly outside the home, but soon chose to devote all her time to caring for her and Ty’s only child, Gerald.  He, and several other children she provided daycare for in her home through the years, like Bridgette, Rodney, and Katie, benefited greatly from her choice, most particularly their learning to read at very young ages. Her favorite days were those she and Ty spent with their three beautiful granddaughters, Ali, Ashley, and Aleah.  She was known primarily to them as Maw Maw, but Paw Paw Ty playfully had them mix in his favorite nickname for her as well.  Being called “Mame” initially annoyed her, but it quickly became a title she cherished.  In the last phase of life, she got to hear Maw Maw once again, this time from three great grandsons of whom she was extremely proud.  Pillow fights with Ian, Owen, and Anderson brought her ninety-year-old soul great joy. During her life, she experienced moments of great tragedy and beautiful, extended times of happiness.  Out of her most difficult circumstances, God grew in her an area of giftedness which would become the blessing she gave everyone else: the gift of “mercy caregiving”.  She was a great example of the truth that the “God of all comfort . . . comforts us in all our trouble, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any afflictions” (II Cor. 1:3-5).  She was at her best, and filled with joy, when she was caring for someone else: a child (especially granddaughters and great grandsons), someone who was sick, anyone who couldn’t do something for themselves.  Her most incredible devotion was seen in the twenty years of caregiving for the love of her life, her Ty. She was a long-time faithful servant at Parkland Church in Winston-Salem, and more recently a member of New Hope Presbyterian church in Clemmons.  She had many friends from those days and more recently, from the loving staff at Homestead Hills Independent Living and The Danby House Assisted Living. Along with her parents, she is preceded in death by her loving husband, Tyris A. Chrisco; siblings, Lousine, Opal, Kathleen, Joyce, Bettie, Buddy, Edith, Ray, and Peggy. She is survived by her son, Gerald Chrisco and wife Allison Davis Chrisco; grandchildren, Ali Layton (Chris), Ashley Marion (Daniel) and Aleah Chrisco; great grandchildren, Ian and Owen Layton and Anderson Marion. A graveside service will be held 2:00 PM Thursday, October 1, 2020 at Parklawn Memorial Gardens with Rev. Charles Kennedy officiating. Guests are welcome to attend the service and the family encourages that masks be worn in order to protect vulnerable family and friends. In lieu of flowers, mercy ministry contributions can be made to New Hope Presbyterian Church for the Deacon’s Fund, 2570 Harper Rd., Clemmons, NC  27012.