FRANKLIN – Anna Forren Franklin, 87, of Kingsland, Ga., passed away peacefully at home Aug. 1, 2022, surrounded by her family.
She was born Oct. 16, 1934, in Rainelle, W.Va., the daughter of the Rev. Melvin M. and Alma D. Forren.
She will be reunited with her husband, Roy, and son, Skip, who passed before her, as well as brothers, Ronald, Richard, Robert and Allen Forren, and sister, Jean F. Beatty.
A proud graduate of Big Creek High School in War, W.Va., she loved keeping in touch with high school friends and attending reunions. After high school, she worked for the McDowell County Board of Education in Welch, W.Va., and one day, when she and some co-workers walked down the street to lunch, caught the eye of a gentleman in a store window. She was the “girl in the red shoes” who later became that man’s wife. She and Roy L. Franklin were married Nov. 6, 1954, and were happily married 47 years until he passed in 2001.
They made their home in Lynch, Ky., where Roy went to work for U.S. Steel, and it was there that they welcomed three children into their family. They loved raising their family there, but after 16 years were transferred to Uniontown, Pa. Ann worked at Gallatin Bank and retired from PNC Bank, staying with them through several name changes. She was a member of Asbury UMC and The Hazel Cluss Circle, and enjoyed cooking, baking, gardening, shopping, playing Solitaire on the computer and watching Fox News. Spending winters in Clearwater Beach, Fla., became a favorite of Ann and Roy’s as each year they’d add more weeks to their stay. Ann was an avid WVU sports fan, starting when their oldest, Becky, played basketball for the Mountaineers in the 1970s through tailgating for football games until her husband’s illness.
In 2010, she and her daughter (armed with their favorite Doris Day CDs) made several road trips to West Virginia and Virginia, visiting old churches and parsonages where her Dad had been a minister many years prior and where Ann had grown up as a pastor’s kid (PK). The pictures brought back special memories, which later, with the help of her granddaughter, were compiled into a hardback book and shared with family. We will all treasure it.
She and her daughter moved to Kingsland, Ga., in 2015 to escape harsh winters and enjoy life together. The move afforded them the opportunity to be outside year-round and spend lots of time together attending Music in the Park, local festivals, sitting on the back porch watching sunsets, taking in dinner shows at Alhambra and going to the beach.
One of her favorite pastimes was going to the St. Marys Waterfront and people watching. She’d talk to everyone, pet dogs and enjoy the breeze off the water.
She was classy and elegant and had a way of making you feel at ease when in her presence. Ann loved to host and to make sure others were well cared for. Even in her last months when physically unable to do so, she’d ask caregivers what she could get them to drink. Call it good, old-fashioned manners or southern hospitality, but she was always prioritizing others before herself. She couldn’t cut a normal-sized piece of pie to save her life, but if you were lucky enough to get a piece of what she was serving, you were OK with over-indulging. Ann was known as “Nana” to many and answered to it from anyone and everyone. If she was in your life, you were lucky. She loved deeply, cared passionately and was wonderfully thoughtful. Her absence leaves a hole in our hearts that will never be replaced. We take comfort that we will always remember her when the song “Mustang Sally” is played, when we eat a Mr. Goodbar, whenever we see the color yellow, when a cardinal comes to visit, when drinking margaritas, when watching the movie “White Christmas,” and when pumpkin-anything is in season.
Ann is survived by her daughter, Becky, of Kingsland, Ga., with whom she had a very special and close relationship with;, son, Scot of Nashville, Tenn.; granddaughter and husband, Lauren and Cmdr. Justin Kirkpatrick of Virginia Beach, Va.; and great-granddaughter Morgan Belle Kirkpatrick, whom she referred to as the lights of her life. She loved being their Nana and was so proud when others would notice and say, “Am I looking at four generations?” She was also so very loved by her furry grandpup, Elle.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Ann’s longtime church, Asbury United Methodist in Uniontown, Pa., or your local humane society. She was a proud pastor’s daughter and loved Elle, a humane society rescue so much. It would please her to help her church and furry critters.
Allison Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.