Elizabeth Grace

ELIZABETH PURVIS GRACE
BEAUFORT, SC

Beth went to be with the angels and our Lord on August 29th at Emory Hospital in Atlanta—
fittingly, the very place where she met her husband, Gene, while she was a student there. Beth
was born in Morristown, Tennessee on September 26, 1949.  She is the daughter of Jeane Strate
Vann and John T. Purvis, MD of Knoxville, Tennessee. She was the loving wife of Gene Waring
Grace, DDS originally from Charleston, SC.

Beth was not only smart, but beautiful. An SAE classmate of Gene’s, then in dental school,
encouraged him to ask out their SAE Sweetheart. Gene checked out her picture in the annual first
and said, "No thanks". Less than a week later, seeing her walking across the campus, he
immediately changed his mind. They were engaged within six months and married six months
after that.
They made their home in Beaufort, where they lived for 51 years, and raised two daughters,
Chilton Simmons and Katherine Hefner. A Beaufort Academy teacher finally had to ask Beth to
make staying at home less fun so Katherine would want to come to school.
A political science major, Beth jumped right into community life. She chaired numerous local
organizations. She was chair of the Clean Water Task Force, Main Street USA Streetscape
Project, and chair of many different committees of St. Helena’s Anglican Church. Ultimately, she
served 10 years on Beaufort County Council, retiring undefeated. She was a co-founder of the
Beaufort County Women’s Republican Club, and with Dot Gnann, co-chaired the county’s Rural
and Critical Land Committee which was responsible for the comprehensive plan. This was the
first of its kind in the state, a legacy that has helped keep Beaufort "the Beaufort we love".
Among her many honors, she most recently received the Community Foundation of the
Lowcountry’s Beaufort County Leadership Award.
Beth is survived by her husband, Gene; her daughters, Chilton (George Heath Simmons, MD)
and Katherine (Ashley Allen Hefner); and seven grandchildren, all of Beaufort — George
Waring Simmons, Grace Evelyn Simmons, Harrison Love Simmons, Styles DeVeaux Simmons,
Vann Harrison Hefner, Ford Hamilton Hefner, and Bray Waring Hefner. Her grandchildren will
always remember her for her fancy tea parties for them with a little tea in their sugar, her pot
roasts, and cinnamon toast, her bedtime stories combined with head massages, trips to Folly
Beach, and the evening card games with her and Pop. 
As one friend put it, "A light in Beaufort has gone out." So true.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, September 12th at 11:00 a.m. at the Parish Church of
St. Helena in Beaufort, with a reception to follow. 
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Historic Beaufort Foundation, the Parish Church of St. Helena, and Beaufort Academy.