Frances Rathbone

Clyde, Frances Ilene Wade Rathbone, age 83, of the Fines Creek Community, passed away on Saturday, May 22, 2010 at Smoky Mountain Health Care and Rehabilitation. A native of Oran, Missouri, she had lived most of her life in Haywood County. She was the daughter of the late Allen Walker Wade and his wife, Bea, and Coletta Halter Jones and her husband, Bud. In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her husband, James Manson Rathbone, who died in 1995, a son, Thomas W. Rathbone, and a brother, Allen Ray Wade. During her younger years, she was a volunteer nurse during WWII. Frances also loved to dance especially the jitterbug. Frances was an avid Carolina Tarheels fan and enjoyed fox hunting with her husband. She was a member of the Salvation Army Church at Shelton Laurel. She is survived by three sons, James A. Rathbone, Sr. and his wife, Rachel, Larry Rathbone and his wife, Linda, and Wade Rathbone and his wife, Mildred, all of Clyde; two daughters, Joan R. Harris and her husband, Jake, of Marion, Virginia and Cindy R. Ledford and her fiancé, Ricky Clark, of Canton; two half sisters, Brenda Taylor of Memphis, Tennessee and Edna Ritter of Maryland; one half-brother, Allen W. Wade, Jr. and his wife, Kathy of Mt. Olivet, Mississippi; one stepbrother, Donnie Jones; one stepsister, Deidre Jones; 13 grandchildren; and 21 great grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at Fines Creek Memorial Baptist Church with Reverend Jimmy Moore officiating. Burial will follow at Fines Creek Memorial Baptist Church Cemetery. Serving as pallbearers will be Jesse Wells, Allen, Shane, Tony, and Danny Rathbone, Jerry Harris, Jr., Jeffery Harris, and Kevin Smith. Honorary pallbearers will be Andy Green, Jeff Davis, Cody Trull, Jesse Keener, and Brian Wells. The family will receive friends from 7:00 until 9:00 p.m. on Monday at Wells Funeral Home of Waynesville and at other times, at the residence of James Rathbone. Memorials may be made to Fines Creek Fire Department, 244 Fines Creek Road, Clyde, NC 28721.

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