The month of January 2007 will mark the closing of one of Salisbury/Rowan’s finest educational institutions after 40 years of providing a learning environment for hundreds of our county’s youngest children. Frances M. McCray, owner/executive director of Home Child Care Center, will close the doors of her day-care business.

Mrs. McCray is a Salisbury/Rowan native who has quietly educated some of our county’s youngest citizens, established her own businesses and given to others in her community. She has taught in both Rowan and Iredell counties, retiring from the Mooresville City School District after more than 25 years, and working in the field of education for more than 40 years. She completed her undergraduate studies at Winston-Salem University and her graduate work at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. She is married to Ernest McCray, and they are the parents of three children, Ernest, William and Wendy. They have four grandchildren.

In 1967, Frances M. McCray opened the doors of “Tiny Town,” a small, family-staffed day-care in her home. For 14 years, family members staffed the day-care. Pete Earl Bea, Inc., was established in 1981. The name “Tiny Town” was changed to Home Child Care Center and became one part of the corporation and its business expansion and renovation project. The corporation revived once-eyesore properties into resourceful day-care centers and small businesses. The project created seven independent day-care centers located in Salisbury and the county.

As the doors close, parents whose children are now doctors, lawyers, coaches, soldiers, day-care owners, business owners etc. can remember when the doors were open at “Tiny Town” and Home Child Care Centers.

— Shirley Moss

Salisbury