Missing my mom on Mother's Day

 This year will be a  year of first.  Sunday May 12th was the first Mother's day without mom.  She is enjoying Heaven this year. 

Yes, that's me,  pictured with mom in 1956!

Martha Loretta Rice Franklin (August 26, 1933 - December 17, 2023 )

 

Martha Rice Franklin, 90, entered into the presence of her Lord, and Savior, on Sunday, December 17, 2023.  She was born on August 26, 1933, in Caroleen, NC, a daughter of the late John Sherman Rice and Ethel Mae Allen Rice. For over 66 years she was the devoted and loving wife of the late Rev. Homer Eugene Franklin. 

Martha and her late husband were founders of Calvary Baptist Church of Cowpens, SC. Her ministry was serving the Lord by playing the piano, being a longtime Sunday School and Vacation Bible School teacher, and supporting her church any way that she could. Martha and her husband also led church services at White Oak Estates for many years. 

A dedicated and hard worker, Martha retired from Pentex (Alcon) in Cowpens and formerly was employed with Converse Mills. 

Martha is survived by her children, Tim Franklin (Cindy) of Lawrenceville, Ga, Deborah F. Logan (Charlie) of Jacksonville, FL, and Loretta Franklin of Boiling Springs, SC; 8 grandchildren, Kenny Arthur, Ben Arthur, Jonathan Logan, April Wyatt, Philip Logan, Joshua Franklin, Stephen Franklin and Brandon Franklin; and 25 great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by a son, Stephen Anthony Franklin, and siblings, Louise McDaniel and James Rice. 

The family will receive friends from 1:00-1:45 p.m. Thursday, December 28, 2023, at Calvary Baptist Church of Cowpens, 451 Pleasant Valley Road, Spartanburg, SC 29307. Funeral service will follow in the sanctuary at 2:00 p.m., conducted by the Rev. Jeff Jones and the Rev. Joshua Franklin.  Burial will be in the church cemetery. 

The family will be at the home. 

Flowers will be accepted, or memorials may be made to Calvary Baptist Church of Cowpens, P.O. Box 1811, Cowpens, SC 29330. 

Floyd’s North Church Street 

OBITUARY AND SLIDE VIDEO posted at https://www.floydmortuary.com/obituaries/martha-franklin

Thankful for my home church

Thankful for the church that my dad "planted" in 1965 

Cowpens Calvary Baptist Church

Photo from local newspaper from the 2nd year anniversary

Now with their 3rd pastor, Jeff Jones, the church is still preaching the Word of God!

remembering those already in Heaven

C 

 Cindy and I took my mother to visit the grave of her son and my brother, Stephen Anthony. He lived only a few hours after birth on October 26,  1956.   He is buried beside our Grandpa and Grandma Franklin at Thompson Chapel Cemetery.   Sadly , he would have been 67 this October.  

Old Family Photos

 Just found this photo of my mother, Martha Rice (Franklin) which was taken at age 13 1/2 or 14 years of age.   I think this is about the age she caught her "future" husband's eye while she was playing piano at a revival service.  

Ancestors from Scotland

 I was able to help my grandson Gideon do an ancestors project for school in PA this week. Using our ancestry.com  family tree, we were able to see that on my mother's side of the  family , her 6th great grandfather Hector McIntosh was born in 1750 in Scotland.  He married Mary McCoy (who was born in America)  in 1782 in North Carolina. We can only guess how old he was when he immigrated to America.  They both died in North Carolina.  Gideon also made this drawing of what Hector may have looked like.  We know the Scottish brought over the bagpiping tradition and wore tartan (kilts).  

"Memories like the corners of my mind"

Remembering Aunt Louise:

I ran across this photo from 2010, when my mom and dad went with us to Arkansas for vacation.  We were able to stop in Jefferson City TN on the way back to SC and visit with my mother's sister (Aunt Louise) .  She is in Heaven now (she died May 31st) and so is my dad(he died July 2018)  

We miss them both.  

"So it's the laughter,  

We will remember,  

Whenever we remember the way we were" 

Mary Louise Rice McDaniel (September 25, 1927 - May 31, 2022)

 Mary Louise McDaniel, age 94, of Jefferson City TN, passed away on May 31, 2022. What can one say about a life well lived? Mary Louise McDaniel (affectionately known to her sons as Mama Mac, mom and to coworkers as Ms. Mac) lived a long and fruitful life.  She was born on September 25, 1927 to the Reverend John and  Ethel Rice in the town of Whitney, South Carolina. She worked in a cotton mill while she was in high school to help support her parents.  She was able to get a work scholarship to attend nursing college in Spartanburg, South Carolina and attended school from 1947 to 1951 (three and a half years). She said college was tough, especially chemistry and anatomy, but she worked hard and made good grades. She received her state board license as a RN in 1951. She moved to Jefferson City, TN in 1952 and started working at Jefferson Memorial Hospital until her retirement in 1990. After retirement, she was able to travel the world a bit. She said her favorite places were California and Hawaii, but she mostly enjoyed working in the garden and growing flowers at her home on Julienne Drive. 

Louise loved her children and prayed for them constantly as they grew up in the tumultuous 60's and 70's and continued to pray for them until the day she died on May 31, 2022. Louise would want you to know that she was a Christian, loved her church community at Faith Baptist Church and that she is in a much better place now. Godspeed mom. We will miss you greatly. 

She is preceded in death by parents, John and Ethel Rice; husband James McDaniel and brother James Rice. She is survived by her sons, Michael Edgar Greene and Patrick Anthony Greene; granddaughters Stephanie Atkinson and Shanna Atkinson; great grandchildren Sparrow, Sage and River, and her sister Martha Rice Franklin (from Cowpens,SC).  

Graveside service 12:00 PM Saturday, June 4 2022 at Mitchell Springs Cemetery with Rev. John Pinkston officiating.  Family and friends may call at their convenience Friday June 3 2022 from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm at Fielden Funeral Home in New Market TN. 

Walking on streets of gold !

 Today Preacher Henry  Coley, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Cowpens, went home to be with the Lord and Savior , Jesus Christ! 

He is walking on the streets of gold, no more night, no more pain ... 

I can  just imagine .... him and my dad Preacher Gene Franklin hugging each other!  

This picture was from the 50th anniversary of the church in  2015. My dad, "Preacher Franklin" started the church in 1965 and  "Preacher Coley" took over in  1985 and pastored the  church for almost 37 years.  He will be missed by all (we are still missing my dad too)  

Memories are made of this...

 Memories were made here...if walls could talk....I was glad to see this old cotton mill is being renovated  instead of being razed.  Originally Clifton mill no. 3, it was destroyed by flood in the early 1900's then rebuilt and became Converse Cotton Mill (on US 29 between Cowpens  and Spartanburg). 

When her youngest child was old enough to go to school,  my mother went to work as the Converse Cotton Mill as a "spare". As a spare hand she had to show up for work each morning just in case they needed her that day, and if not, then she went back home.  A friend of the family took her and waited for her just in case he had to take her back home. 

 What a neat town Cowpens was back in the day!  When i was a kid, all the stores closed at 2 pm on Wednesdays, so folks could have time to make it to church that night.  Of course, all stores were closed all day on Sunday. 

Now after being closed down since the late 1970's, someone has purchased the property and is renovating the old mill  into 175 loft apartments.  The renovations will  cost about $50 million and should be finished in late 2022. 

Converse Mill to be converted to 173 Loft Apartments by the end of 2022!

 So glad they did not tear this old mill down!  My mother started her working career as a stand by worker at the Converse Mill pictured here - on US 29 at the Pacolet River.   She had to show up each day to find out if they needed her to work  or not - if not, she went back home.  A friend of the family took her and brought her home each day.  She was glad when she was able to get a job at the Pentex Mill in Cowpens. She retired from there.   

from the Spartanburg Herald-Journal:  

After almost 50 years since operations stopped at the former Converse Mill along the Pacolet River, the site is being converted into 173 loft apartments.

The project has been in the works for the last several years but ran into some delays. Developer Britt Weaver said the $50 million project is set to be finished by December 2022.

"The deal was ready to close in 2019 and was HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) approved when the general contractor pulled out. So we had to start the whole thing over again," Weaver said. "It's been challenging and expensive but we got it done."

A chain-link fence is set up around the property and construction trailers are installed at the site. 

When developers announced the project in May 2017, it was scheduled to be completed by late 2018 or early 2019. The project, called Converse Mill Lofts, on Highway 29 received state income and historic tax credits.

read more at this link...

October is my favorite month!

 October is my favorite month of the year...not just because the season changes to fall....but my birth month is October.  

Picture at top at 5 months.

Picture in middle at one year old in 1956 with my mom...Martha Franklin

Picture at bottom at 21 months old

64 years of marriage - December 22, 2015

My mom and dad, Gene and Martha Franklin, celebrated their 64th anniversary

December 22, 2015  

50 years of memories

50 years of memories....

Mom and Dad, 

Gene and Martha Franklin, 

were the honored guests at the 

50th anniversary homecoming of Cowpens Calvary Baptist Church.

October 11, 2015  

Memory Lane - memories of a "PK"

Calvary Baptist Church celebrated its 50th anniversary last Sunday, October 11th, in Cowpens, SC.   When God planted this church in 1965, he used my Dad, Gene Franklin,  to start it and we met in this little store-front building owned by Mr. Robert Murph.   I cannot remember how many were there on the charter Sunday, but I do remember my mom and dad, my two sisters and myself.  I was 10 years old so I am not sure if I was old enough to be a "charter member" on the list.  




Back in 2010, I took the photo above and posted my memories of this "preacher's kid," growing up in Cowpens SC.  There are three posts about those memories on my family blog "Our Journey of Life" and you can click the links below to read them...

When God uses a man part one...

When God uses a man part two...

When God uses a man part three...

Celebrating 63 years!

My parents, Gene and Martha Franklin, celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary on December 23, 2014. 

Congratulations! 

Matha's Story, page 6

After returning from our honeymoon to Gatlinburg, TN,  we went to Clifton, SC to live with Gene's mom for a few weeks.  We stayed with his mom for about a month.  Gene's Mom (Mattie Belle) was such a good cook.  She would not only cook good meals, but would also make cobblers or fried pies for dessert.  She really spoiled me.   When we were sitting in the living room, Gene's six year old nieces, Patsy and Judy, were also living at grandma's. They would peek through the keyhole to see what we were doing. Judy went with us many times to visit my mom and dad in North Carolina. She as told this story through the years "When we went to bed, I would be between them, but I would wake up on the other side of the bed!" 

After four weeks, we found a mill house to rent.  We didn't have much but we were so happy to have a place of our own.  In the summer of 1952, we purchased a Frigidaire.  Boy, were we thrilled!  We had been using block ice to keep things cold.  Then my mother bought us a beautiful dinette set. The color was gold and we loved it!

tracing family history in NC

Buried at the Rutherford County Cemetery near Forest City, NC - my great-grandparents on my mother's side of the family. This is the same cemetery where my grandparents are buried.

Jobie Allen (May 20, 1872 - April 20, 1927)

Harriett Briggs Allen (March 27, 1881 - May 13, 1967)

They had six children:

Bessie Edna (Woods); Ethel Mae (Rice); Leila Idunia (Davis);

John Lloyd Allen; Gattis Ervin Allen; and Margaret (Hughes)

Pictures from back in the day! (1959)

Gene and Martha Franklin with children, Debbie, Tim and Loretta

Since my youngest sister was born in March, 1959 I would guess this picture was taken in the Summer or Fall of 1959. 

Pictures from back in the day! (1955)

Martha and Gene Franklin, April 1955

Here is a picture of mom and dad from April 1955. I guess she would be carrying me in the womb at about 2 months.  Looks like they are standing in front of their brand new 1954 Chevrolet!