ank you, LORD, for sending to us for the past ninety-three years Rachel Clara Jane McPherson Duncan Lang. On July 2, 2022 she fell asleep in Raleigh, NC and awoke in heaven to be with Jesus and the loved ones who passed before her. The youngest of seven children of Porter and Ella (Cribb) McPherson, she was born on the family’s tobacco farm in the Beaverdam community in Columbus County, NC.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by siblings Leon, Bessie, Rebecca, Carson, Vera, and Phillip. Other loved ones who passed before her include first husband, Sterling Duncan; son, Jerry Delane Duncan; daughter, Peggy Jane Duncan; daughter-in-law, Mona Hardee Duncan; and second husband Roy Lang. She is survived by her son Russell Wayne Duncan (Jo Ann Hines Duncan); grandsons, Russ Duncan, Jr. (Kate), Cortney Duncan (Ashley), Josh Hines (Jenny); great-grandchildren, Emma, T.J., Elijah, Matthew, Cameron, Avery Grace, Peyton, Zach, and Jonathan. She leaves behind numerous nieces and nephews, all of whom she dearly loved.
A Christian since early childhood, Rachel was a member of Beaverdam Original Free Will Baptist Church where she taught the Adult Bible Class; she was active in the Women’s Auxiliary and played piano for the McPherson Quartet. In addition, she served as President of the Free Will Baptist Church’s Women’s Auxiliary and represented the organization across the state. In her later years, she taught Bible study classes in Sun City and Prescott, Arizona.
Rachel’s first loves, the LORD and her family, were closely followed by her love for travel and adventure. As a young mother, she planned and saved for family vacations to the Smoky Mountains, the Carolina coast, Florida, and New York City for the 1964 World’s fair. With her second husband, Roy, she enjoyed trips across the United States, Europe, and China.
Rachel was a kind, loving, generous and caring mother, grandmother, great grandmother, aunt, and friend. She loved to entertain and to cook for family, friends and visitors. All of us enjoyed her delicious, mouth-watering chicken and pastry on many occasions, always asking for seconds.
A celebration of Rachel’s life will be held at Beaverdam Original Free Will Baptist Church on Saturday, July 9 at 2:00 PM. Visitation and viewing will be one hour before the service. Burial will follow in the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Tabor City. For those who wish, memorials can be made to the Peggy Jane Duncan Endowment at Mount Olive University, 634 Henderson Street, Mount Olive, NC 28365, Beaverdam Original Free Will Baptist Church, 2665 Beaverdam Road, Chadbourn, NC 28431, or to their charity of choice.
