Johnson, Beulah Frances

Beulah Frances Johnson, known to her friends and family as Frances or Aunt Fran, went to be with the Lord on February 15, 2008.

Frances was born in Leona Mines, Va. on July 8, 1912. She spent the majority of her life in Radford, however, she spent the last five years in Salem, Va. with her nieces, Audrey and Laura.

Frances graduated from Radford College with a degree in Education and later received her Master’s Degree in Library Sciences from Peabody College in Nashville which is now Vanderbilt. She taught in the public schools of Lee County for twenty years before her formal training as a librarian. From 1949-51 she was librarian at Pennington High School. In 1951, she began cataloging at Radford College. She continued cataloging through the years but in 1954, she also began teaching courses in Library Science as an Assistant Professor at Radford College. In 1973, she picked up her third job which was Acting Head of Technical Services. When she retired in 1977, after 26 years, she was still carrying all three jobs.

Through the years, she taught many of the school librarians throughout the state of Virginia and she maintained a formal interest in her former students. She contributed to Radford College by acting as a co-sponsor of Alpha Beta Alpha and Sigma Sigma Sigma for many years. Frances was given Honorary Life Membership in the Virginia Library Association but she was also a member of the Southeastern Library Association, the American Library Association, the Library Section of the Virginia Education Association, the American Association of University Women, Delta Kappa Gamma and Business and Professional Women.

She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Radford, where she used the skills God had given her to teach, and taught Sunday School classes for many years. After retiring, she also volunteered for Meals on Wheels. In lieu of flowers please send memorial donations to the First Baptist Church, Third Ave. and Downey St., Radford, VA.

Frances will be buried at the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Woodway, Virginia, next to those who preceded her in death, her mother, Margaret Vesta Schular Johnson, her Father, John Wesley Johnson and her only brother, Carl Bascom Johnson. She also was preceded by a sister, June Esther Johnson Brown and a niece, Lois Brown Douglas, both of Elizabethton, Tenn. and a great-niece, Connie Arthur Wright of Roanoke, Va.

She is survived by a sister, Thelma Pearl Johnson Cox of Kingsport, Tenn.; nieces, Audrey Brown Arthur of Salem, Va. and Jayne Cox Johnston and husband, Roger Johnston, of Kingsport, Tenn.; nephews, Lynn Brown and wife, Maggie Brown, of Westchester, Ohio and Aubrey Brown and wife, Judy Brown, of Watauga, Tenn.; two great-nieces, Laura Arthur of Salem, Va. and Melanie Allen Moore of Elizabethton, Tenn.; six great-nephews, Gary Brown of Westchester, Ohio, David Brown of Knoxville, Tenn., Timothy Brown, of Mason, Ohio, Danny Brown of Johnson City, Tenn., Tony Allen of Birmingham, Ala., Mark Johnston of Kingsport, Tenn.; six great-great-nieces and nine great-great-nephews.

Funeral services will be held at Sturgill Funeral Home in Pennington Gap, Virginia on Monday, February, 18, 2008. Rev. Matt Mitchell of First Baptist Church of Pennington Gap will be officiating.

Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., with the funeral service immediately following. Graveside will follow at the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Woodway. Family and friends will serve as pall bearers. She will be missed by all who knew and loved her. She touched many in her long life, and lived her life to the fullest. Arrangements by Sturgill Funeral Home of Pennington Gap, VA.