Rebecca Franklin Penland
November 25, 1916 ~ July 4, 2002
Resided in:
Oak Ridge, TN
Asheville Butterfly Trail
Rebecca Lee Franklin Penland, 85, of Oak Ridge, TN, died Thursday, July 4, 2002, at Briarcliff Health Care Center.
She was born November 25, 1916 in Crossnore, NC, the daughter of the late Stanhope and Ida Smith Franklin. She was also preceded in death by a brother, William Smith Franklin.
Mrs. Penland was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Oak Ridge and was ordained an elder, many years ago, in the First Presbyterian Church in Akron, OH. She was valedictorian of her Crossnore High School graduating class, graduated with a two year degree from Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, NC and graduated with a four year degree from Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC. For several years she taught school in various North Carolina counties.
She was active in a number of crafts, was a nationally accredited flower show judge, taught flower show judging and organized flower show judging schools. She was a lifetime member of the Tennessee Federation of Garden Clubs and a member of the Oak Ridge Garden Club. She was a potter with her own wheel and kiln. She was also a seamstress and did needlework including crocheting and knitting. While still in high school she learned to weave.
Mrs. Penland is survived by her husband of 57 years, Buford Wright Penland of Oak Ridge, TN and by two sons, James Franklin Penland of Moorpark, CA and Dr. William Randolph Penland of Evansville, IN; also by James Franklin Penland’s first wife, Patricia Komgati and their daughter, Julia Marie Dykstra and her husband, Jon of Girwood, AK and by his second wife, Tracey Boyd Penland of Moorpark. She is also survived by Dr. William Penland’s wife Lynn Rickey Penland and their two sons, James Randolph and John William Penland, all of Evansville, IN. She is also survived by Dorothy Winstead Franklin, widow of her brother William Smith Franklin, and by their three daughters, Nancy Franklin Edwards and her husband Robert and their daughter, Molly Edwards, Linda Franklin Griffen and her husband Robert and their two sons, William R. Griffin and Christopher Griffin and by Carol Franklin, all of the general area of Raleigh, NC. She is survived by one sister, Iva Hope Franklin Church and her husband Harlan of Bristol, VA and their son, Dr. David Church of Clarksburg, WV, his wife Judith Sawyer Church and their two sons, Bryan Church and Daniel Church.
Funeral services will be 2:00 pm Monday in the Patton Avenue chapel of Groce Funeral Home with the Reverend William A. Snyder officiating. Burial will follow at Green Hills Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 1:00-2:00 pm at the funeral home prior to the service.
Although I never met Rebecca, I feel as though I new her through Buford’s letters to The Penland Historical Society. Rebecca had to be an exceptional lady to be so loved by her family and friends.