2008 Ripples Society Medal

Education and working with young people in a variety of settings have been lifelong pursuits of Margaret “Peg” Flory Wampler Rainbolt, a graduate of the Bridgewater College class of 1937.

Mrs. Rainbolt, the daughter of Dr. John S. and Vinnie Mikesell Flory, was born and raised in Bridgewater. Following her graduation from college, she taught home economics at William Byrd High School in Vinton, Va.

Moving to Lancaster, Pa., she served as program director for teenagers at the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) and directed summer camp, a job she repeated in Fresno, Calif. Returning to Virginia, she earned a master’s degree in counseling at what was then Madison College (now James Madison University) in Harrisonburg.

In 1965 she married John B. Wampler, a member of the Bridgewater College Board of Trustees and treasurer of Wampler-Longacre Foods, Inc. The couple hosted many picnics at their farm on Va. 42 near Harrisonburg, Va., for school groups, churches and family reunions.

Mr. Wampler died in 1981.

Mrs. Rainbolt remained intensely active in the life of her community. While a member of the First Church of the Brethren in Harrisonburg, she served on the church board and various committees, including the building committee for the new church. She also served for 15 years on the board of directors for the Bridgewater Home Inc., and was elected the first president of the auxiliary of the Bridgewater Home. Additionally, she was instrumental in helping start the home’s gift shop.

She also served as assistant dean of students at Bridgewater College from 1951-53 and again from 1959-64.

In 1985, she married Richard Rainbolt, a newspaper editor and publisher. She has served on the Bridgewater College Board of Trustees and is a life member. She also was president of the Ripples Society. Mr. Rainbolt died in 2001.

“I have a wonderful family of five step-daughters, 12 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren,” she says.

Mrs. Rainbolt’s hobbies are traveling, reading, antiquing and baking cookies.

Mrs. Rainbolt and her brother, John S. Flory, have been instrumental in founding the Flory Fellowship of Scholars, an honors program begun at Bridgewater College in 2006 in tribute to their father, John S. Flory Sr., president of Bridgewater College from 1910-1919.

The Ripples Society recognized Margaret Flory Wampler Rainbolt for her life of service and commitment to the field of education, her family, her community, her church and her alma mater with the presentation of the Ripples Medal.