Rosa Mclaurine Micou

Rosa William McLaurine Micou, 98, died January 2, 2013 at Lucy Corr Nursing Home in Chesterfield. An active member of the Chester community for over 70 years, she was born at “Mount Laurel” in Powhatan County, the daughter of Bernard Frayser and Jane Byrd Johnson McLaurine. Known all her life as “Mac” or “Rosa Mac,” she spent her childhood at the family home, “Byrd’s Nest,” in Ballsville. After attending Nursing School at Emergency Hospital in Washington, D.C., she married Paul Freeman Micou in 1939 and moved permanently to Chester. Before turning to full-time homemaking and raising a family, she worked as a private nurse, high school secretary, secretary for the State Bureau of Vital Statistics, surgical assistant at the Fort Lee Dental Clinic, and later as secretary for the Selective Service Agency in Chester and for Goyne Chevrolet, now Heritage Chevrolet. In her 70’s, her interest in new methods of care for the elderly led her to work as an aide at Lucy Corr Nursing Home. Following her husband’s retirement, she assisted him in managing the Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company and its merger with Northern Neck Insurance. Mrs. Micou was for more than 60 years a member of Chester Presbyterian Church where she served as a Sunday School and Vacation Bible School teacher and on numerous committees. In 2002 she was named an Honorary Life Member of Presbyterian Women, Presbyterian Church (USA). She was a member and officer of the Chester Women’s Club, member of the O.E.S., charter member of the Chemuda Garden Club, a life member of the Virginia Federation of Garden Clubs, and a driver and volunteer for the Chester chapter of the American Red Cross. Into her 80’s, she was a volunteer at the Colonial Heights Nursing Home. She had lifelong interests in the care of children and the elderly, gardening, and cooking. Her home in Chester was a gathering place for extended family and friends where good food and civility were a given.
Mrs. Micou was predeceased by her husband in 2005 and by a daughter, Anne McLaurine Micou Delhagen, in 2000. She is survived by her son, Paul Freeman Micou, Jr. and wife Barbara of Chester; a daughter, Mary Byrd Micou Martin of Morattico, and five grandsons: Joseph Wesley Martin, Jr.(wife Jeri, great-grandchildren Wesley Hunter and Mary Evelyn) of Christiansburg; Matthew Freeman Micou (wife Lisa, great-grandchildren Ella Grace, Olivia Byrd, and William McLaurine); Paul Burton Micou; Ernest Freeman Martin; and Russell Frayser Micou, all of Richmond. Survivors also include son-in-law Kenneth F. Delhagen of Richmond and three step-grandchildren, Kenneth F. Delhagen, Jr., Lisa Delhagen Vaile, and Circe Beadle, their spouses and four children.
The family will receive friends Friday, January 4, at the Chester Chapel of J.T. Morriss and Son Funeral Home from 6 to 8 p.m. A funeral service will be held Saturday, January 5, at 11 a.m. at the funeral home with interment in Sunset Memorial Park. Memorial contributions may be made to the Chester Presbyterian Church. Condolences may be sent to www.jtmorriss.com