Grace Garner McDaniel Routten, 94, of Hampton, VA died peacefully at home on November 3, 2021.  She was born on May 17, 1927, in Charleston, South Carolina to Louis Archie McDaniel and Carrie Lee DuPuis McDaniel.  The youngest of five siblings, Grace spent her early years moving back and forth between Charleston and Savannah before graduating from Savannah High School in 1945.  In 1946, she met and married the love of her life, Earl P. Routten, Sr.  After the wedding, they moved to Hampton and were happily married for 30 years before he died in 1976.

Grace's favorite role in life was being a mother to Carol, Buddy, and Kathy. Throughout their childhood, she doted on them by sewing their clothes, cooking wonderful meals, planning magical Christmases, and making sure their shoes were polished every day. Her role expanded over the years to grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great grandmother.  Grace was an active participant in the lives of her grandchildren and was often in their company.  She could be found at the baseball field watching games, in the kitchen teaching her grandchildren to cook and bake, teaching them to fish and crab in the creek, or on the couch enthusiastically watching whatever silly skit or dance the grandkids wanted to show her.

At the age of 60, Grace reinvented herself by purchasing Wythe Hardware, a small, neighborhood store in Hampton.  She discovered she had a knack for running a small business.  Her most impressive skillset was in her customer service. Every Christmas Eve, Grace would open the store half a day to serve cookies and hot apple cider to her customers.  Her many loyal patrons would always come to her store first, knowing that she had a smaller selection than the bigger stores.  Customers were often overheard saying "she knows what I need before I even get in the store!"

Her work at the hardware store led to her appointment to the Hampton Roads Transit commission as a citizen member.  Grace worked many years on the commission and was instrumental in bringing light rail to Norfolk.  This required extensive research of other cities that had light rails, and she traveled throughout the United States and Canada to transit conferences. Some of her favorite places she traveled to were San Diego, San Antonio, Dallas, and Ontario.

Preceded in death by her husband, Earl and beloved daughter-in-law, Reginia Routten; Grace is survived by her three children, Carol Routten Riley, Buddy Routten (Peggy Steele), and Kathy Routten (Jeffrey Beaber); six grandchildren, Jenni Heath (Danny), Cara Riley, Tommy Routten (Christan), Will Daughtry (Leslie), Joey Riley (Allison), and Erin Routten; nine great-grandchildren, Victoria Faison (Rob), Trevor Heath (Heather), Gracen Riley, Liam Daughtry, Hadley Riley, Connor Routten, Natalie Daughtry, Paige Routten, and Cooper Routten; and two great-great grandchildren, Ella Grace Faison and  Tanner Heath (with another on the way).

A visitation will be held from 5:00-6:30 PM on Sunday, November 7, 2021, at R. Hayden Smith Funeral Home, 245 S. Armistead Avenue, Hampton.   Funeral services will be private.