Mrs. William M. Strother, 80, for more than fifty years a leading figure in the cultural life of Lynchburg, died about 6 o'clock this morning at Memorial Hospital after an illness of a few days. Founder of the Woman's Club of Lynchburg, Lynchburg Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution, and charter member of Lynchburg Committee of Colonial Dames, Mrs. Strother was a member of Randolph-Macon Woman's College faculty in that institution's early years and continued her interest in its progress until her death.
Born August 5, 1858, in Gladys, Mrs. Strother was the daughter of Lorenzo Morgan and Mrs. Martha Virginia Brown-Morgan. Before her marriage she was Miss Roberta Morgan. At her death the last member of her immediate family passed.
Her family moved to Glasgow, Mo., when she was but a year old and she grew up and received her early education in that place. She completed her education at Boston University and was married in 1881 to William Mitchell Strother of Lynchburg, whose father was founder and for many years president of Strother Drug Company, a position to which the son succeeded.
Mrs. Strother was teacher of expression and dramatics at Randolph-Macon Woman's College the first eight or ten years of its existence. She was the first president of the Woman's Club, which she founded in 1903, and was active in organization of the Colonial Dames Committee here. Lynchburg Chapter, D.A.R., was organized by her efforts in 1908 and she became its first regent. Her original membership in the society was in Blue Ridge Chapter. She was a former member of Old Dominion Chapter, U.D.C. Her work in genealogy was recognized throughout the South and frequent requests for information secured in her extensive research in State and National archives were received from all over the country.
In 1904 Mrs. Strother served as hostess for the Virginia Building at the World's Fair in St. Louis, Mo., a position in which she made friends in all sections of the United States. She belonged to Court Street Methodist Church, was a member of the American Association of University Women through its Lynchburg Branch, and belonged to the Little Theatre of Lynchburg. Mrs. Strother was much sought for nearly a half-century as reader and dramatist. In her last years she continued an interest in dramatics and took several important roles in the Little Theatre, always playing with the finish which characterized her work along all lines. She was both patron of and participated in the arts, and her interest in cultural and patriotic endeavors persisted until the end.
Surviving Mrs. Strother are one son, R. Mitchell Strother; one daughter, Mrs. Henry Blackwell; and the following grandsons and granddaughters: Miss Elizabeth Strother of New York City, William and Paul Strother of Matawan, N.J., and Miss Virginia Strother and Nelson Strother of Lynchburg. She leaves also three great-grandchildren. She made her home with Dr. and Mrs. Blackwell on Norfolk Avenue.