Blair Louise Major

Blair Rogers Major of Decatur passed away on Wednesday December 11, 2013. The daughter of Clara Louise Fink Rogers and Brigadier General Pleas Blair Rogers, she was born at Fort Benning, GA on October 11, 1922, and raised at her father's postings around the world. She graduated from Vassar College in 1944. She married J. Russell Major on June 9, 1945, after his return from military duty in World War II. When they finished her husband's doctoral work at Princeton University in 1949, she and their growing family moved to Emory University. She followed the lure of research in France for the rest of her life, starting when she had four children less than six years old. Mrs. Major served her community and the cause of education all her life. She testified for desegregation before the Sibley Commission and served on boards of Planned Parenthood and The YMCA. She was a member of the Emory University Women's Club for 65 years, serving frequently on the Memorial Graduate Research Committee. In 1975 she received the Club's Achievement Award for Community Service. She was a member of the Every Saturday Club and the Every Wednesday Club, and she attended Senior University until her death. She and her husband of 53 years funded the Blair Rogers Major and James Russell Major Dissertation Award at Emory. Mrs. Major is survived by her three children, Blair Louise, Clara Jean and Russell; five grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. In May 2014, she will be interred in Front Royal, VA, with her daughter, Randon Leigh and her beloved husband, James Russell Major. A memorial service will take place at 2:00 pm on Saturday, April 13, 2014, at Cannon Chapel on the Emory University campus. A reception will follow in Brooks Common, on the lower level to Cannon Chapel. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Blair Rogers Major and James Russell Major Dissertation Award and mailed to: Major Award, Emory University, Department of History, 561 S. Kilgo Circle # 221, Atlanta, GA 30322. A. S. Turner and Sons Funeral Home and Crematory.


Funeral Home:
A.S. Turner
2773 N. Decatur Road
Decatur, GA
30033