Miriam Staton Paige McCarter died peacefully on January 9, 2023 surrounded by her loving family and devoted friends.  Born in Norfolk, VA on January 19, 1940, she was a graduate of B.T. Washington High School and Norfolk State University.  She received her graduate degree from UNC Greensboro.  After a dedicated teaching career, she and her husband opened Special Occasions, a business that turned an abandoned building on Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive into a source of community pride and recognition.  The bookstore served a wide range of needs including toy and blood drives, book signings with local and national authors, Santa Claus and Christmas carolers, meeting space and homecoming parking, floral arrangements, Greek paraphernalia, church supplies and choir robes.

Miriam enjoyed planning activities and being involved in decision-making processes.  She was a charter member of the Winston-Salem Black Chamber of Commerce and served as its president.  She was on the board of the S.G. Atkins CDC as well as on the City of Winston-Salem Citizens Budget Advisory Committee, the Community Appearance Committee, and the Public Assembly Facilities Commission, among other civic involvements.  Nominated for the NC Woman of the Year Award (Business), she received the Winston-Salem Chronicle Woman of the Year and Union Baptist Church Legacy Award as well as other honors.

Full of joy and life, she enjoyed music and word games and was a member of the Happy Bunch Pinochle Club. She organized the Sunday Book Club, an extension of her lifelong love of reading.  She could brighten a room with a smile and always recommend a good place to visit, shop, or dine.

God called home a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and loyal friend.  In Norfolk, she was an active member of First Baptist Church. At the First Baptist Church East Winston, she served on the Usher Board, the Capital Campaign Committee, and edited the Herald.  She also coordinated well-received book discussions for the church and community.  Joining Providence Baptist Church, she continued to worship and serve in that sacred space.

Miriam had a profound love for her family and friends.  She will be deeply missed by her dedicated husband, Eddie L. McCarter.  Her loving memories will remain in the hearts of her devoted children, Renwick A. Paige (Deborah Johnson) of Brooklyn NY and Derwick L. Paige and his wife Martha of Morrisville, NC.  She was "another mother" of Sonja McCarter Smith, her husband Kennon of Winston-Salem, NC; grandsons, Renwick A. Paige II of Brooklyn, Christopher R. Paige and wife Ramaris of Washington, DC, Tristan Paige and Jordan A. Paige, both of Brooklyn, and great-granddaughter, Camila Miriam of Washington, DC.

Among those who gave special meaning to the word "family" and friends" are Olita Alexander, Denise Alston, Sandra Brown, Bernese Cason, Patricia Dosier, Brenda Hodge, Teraya Paige and Janet Wheeler.  Her legacy of caring and concern lives in the hearts of many whose lives she touched.

A viewing will be held from 1:00pm until 5:00pm Monday, January 16, 2023 at Russell Funeral Home.

Services will be held at 12:00pm Tuesday, January 17, 2023 at Providence Baptist Church, Greensboro, NC.  Interment will follow in Gardens of Memory, Walkertown. NC. The family visitation will be held from 11:00am until 12:00pm on Tuesday at the Church.

In lieu of flowers, please consider memorial contributions to The Freedom School of Providence Baptist Church, 1106 Tuscaloosa Street, Greensboro, NC 27406.