Frances Millwood

Frances Elaine Turner Bland Millwood, 84, of 115 Greenbriar Drive, went home to be with the Lord on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2008, at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center.

Born in Cherokee County, she was the wife of Jack E. Millwood Sr. and daughter of the late Mattie Mae Hawkins and Clarence D. Turner. She was first married to the late S. Milford Bland who died in 1972. Mrs. Millwood retired from TranSouth Financial Corporation in Gaffney, where she worked for 37 years, serving the last two years of her employment as branch manager in Union.

Mrs. Millwood was a graduate of Gaffney High School and Robinson's Business College in Spartanburg. She had been a member since 1932 of Cherokee Avenue Baptist Church, where she served as a Sunday School teacher, choir member and interim choir director, and served on various committees, including pastor and music search committees.

Mrs. Millwood also served as music director at Cherokee Avenue Baptist Church's Sixth Street Mission (now Christian Heights Baptist Church) for nine years.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by a son, Bob Bland and wife, Julie, of Asheville, N.C.; a daughter, Holly Bland Sarratt and husband, Tom, of Columbia; a stepson, Eddie Millwood of Gaffney; and three grandchildren, Turner Phillip Bland, Della Jane Bland and Robert Edward Bland, all of Asheville.

The family will receive friends Friday, Nov. 28, from 1-2 p.m. at Blakely Funeral Home. A private family interment will be held. Services will be held Friday, Nov. 28, at 3 p.m. at Cherokee Avenue Baptist Church with Dr. Clyde Thomas and the Rev. Stuart A. Kersey officiating. Friends are invited to join the family in the Family Life Center after the service.

The family is at the residence.

Memorials may be made to Meals on Wheels, P.O. Box 1886, Gaffney, S.C. 29342; or the Lottie Moon Offering, c/o Cherokee Avenue Baptist Church, 805 Cherokee Ave., Gaffney, S.C. 29340.

An online guest register is available at www.blakelyfuneralhome. com.