Obituaries & Tributes

Betty June Franklin: June 5, 1943 – Aug. 1, 2021

Born June 5, 1943 at home in Wigham, Ga., to parents Mattielene (Barber) Hawthorne and Marvin Hawthorne. Died Aug. 1, 2021 at Magnolia Memory Care in Cottage Grove, Ore., of Alzheimer’s disease.

Betty completed high school at Wigham High. She married Gerald (Jerry) Franklin on April 29, 1966 in Tallahassee, Fla., and lived there until they moved to Pleasant Hill in 1976 with their son Gerald Franklin, Jr.

Betty was a hard worker from the beginning as a child in the tobacco barn. She helped her parents on their large farm doing anything that was asked of her and more. Being one of seven children there was no shortage of work to be done. 

After high school she began her 45-year career in banking, where she was loved and admired by both employers and customers alike. After she left banking in 2002 she went on to help her son by running the office at Franklin Contracting. There she did everything from answering the phone and filing to running parts and trucks.

Everyone and anyone who had dealings at FCI knew Betty was “The Boss” and she wasn’t afraid to remind you all the way up until she retired with Jerry in December 2014.

Betty loved being outdoors. You could always find her out on the patio or in the front yard sweeping the pine needles or picking up twigs. She loved fishing, hunting and camping. She really loved children and would light up whenever she was around them. Especially her great-grandchildren. 

She was fiercely loyal and was protective of those she cared for. Betty was always quick to offer to help and didn’t shy away from the hard work.

Betty is survived by her husband Jerry, her son Gerald and his wife Trina, sisters Carolyn (Ed) Lowe, Shirley (Bill) DeWitt and Brother James (Angie) Hawthorne, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

She is preceded in death by her three brothers Winston Hawthorne, Robert Hawthorne and Berle Hawthorne and her parents Mattielene and Marvin Hawthorne.

We, her family and her friends, will miss her always.

There will be a private family celebration in Pleasant Hill and a private graveside service in Wigham, Ga., at a later date.

Arrangements by Smith-Lund-Mills Funeral Chapel, Cottage Grove.

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