The Fayetteville Observer, N.C., Kim Hasty column [The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.]

Nov. 04--The church was full, the occasion was emotional and all eyes were on her, but Debbie Loyd Dewar called on her training as a lawyer.

And, doubtless, she also called on the indomitable spirit of the woman everyone had gathered to celebrate.

Hers were a granddaughter's carefully worded, eloquently written comments, and they were clearly delivered despite a heart full of tears.

And they spoke for everyone who knew and loved Lillian Loyd.

"My grandmother," Dewar was saying before a crowded First Presbyterian Church, "was simply beautiful inside and out."

Beloved matriarch of a large but close-knit family, self-made woman and steadfast keeper of the faith, Lillian Loyd died Oct. 26 just a few months after being diagnosed with cancer. She was 92.

Dewar talked about having spent the last few days talking to friends and family members about her grandmother.

"The wonderful effect my grandmother has had on the lives of my family, her friends, total strangers, this church, and me does not have to be exaggerated," Dewar said. "It is precious and profound."

Her family agreed that the gifts Lillian Loyd shared with them all were gifts such as love and laughter, keen intelligence, grace and beauty, devotion to First Presbyterian Church.

"I think the church was just simply an inseparable part of her," Dewar said. "She met my grandfather in front of the sundial on the way to choir practice at the church. She is part of four generations of her family to be a part of this church.

"Her two sons and three of her grandchildren were married in this church, and seven of her great-grandchildren were baptized in this church. She was extremely proud of this tradition."

And then there was the gift of family -- the firm belief that her two sons and grandchildren, great-grandchildren, brothers and sisters, were as precious as pure gold.

Holidays were a time for celebration and packing family members into the house and around the table.

"I remember," Dewar said, "the comfort of crossing my grandparents' threshold into my grandmother's warm embrace amidst the aromatic perfection of turkey and all the trimmings greeting me with delight from the kitchen."

Fayetteville developer Buzz Loyd remembers his mother working hard in an era when working women were the exception.

She never complained.

"What mother did for me was to instill in me an absolute sense of self-confidence," he said. "I told her many times that whatever success I have is from what she forwarded to me. She poured into me a tremendous amount of self-confidence and integrity."

Lil Loyd was a graduate of Worth Business College and worked for 32 years as an agent and manager for Beard & White Insurance. She was a former president of the Fayetteville Area Insurance Business Women's Association and former director of the N.C. Insurance Business Women's Association and once was named the National Insurance Woman of the Year.

She retired in 1985. Two years later, her husband, Royal, died.

"She reinvented herself," Buzz Loyd said.

She enrolled in Methodist College, where she studied drama and indulged in a lifelong love of the theater. Already involved at church, she became the go-to girl for First Presbyterian's annual trips to Myrtle Beach and other venues. And she was always game for a trip with a group of friends who boasted her brother Wayne Lewis as their ringleader.

Off they'd go, whether the adventure was down the street to their beloved Cape Fear Regional Theatre or farther away to New York or to Washington.

"She loved New York," Lewis said. "And she loved dealing with the watch vendors. She knew how to talk them down."

Lewis said he can take comfort in memories like those, that he can close his eyes and remember story after story.

But the loss is difficult.

"A big empty hole is in our family now," he said.

But Debbie Dewar looked over all those folks who had come to pay their respects. And she held back the tears.

In honor of a woman, after all, who loved to laugh.

"My parents wanted me to make sure it was a celebration," she said. "I wanted to give them that gift. I really wanted to give that gift to her."

Community news editor Kim Hasty can be reached at [email protected] 486-3591.

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