Hillary Kim Jackson
Hillary Kim Jackson, 55, of Opelika, passed away Sunday, August 23, 2015, at East Alabama Medical Center. A memorial service was held at Jeffcoat-Trant Chapel at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 26, 2015, with visitation starting at 5:00 p.m. Dr. Rusty Sowell officiated.
Kim was born in Opelika, Lee County, Alabama, on May 27, 1960. He is predeceased by his father, Hillary D. Jackson, and brother, Todd Jackson. He is survived by his wife, Lisa Watts Jackson; mother, Betty Jackson; daughters, November Ritchey of Texas, Kayleigh Jackson; son, Nick Jackson and granddaughter, Kaige both of Texas; son, Konnor Jackson; siblings, James Jackson, Tab Jackson (Anya), Tracy Jackson (Michelle) both of Florida, Tammy Jones (Whit), Trixie Horne (Jason); father and mother-in laws, Harold and Judy Watts; and a host of nieces, nephews, and other family members.
Kim loved his family and was a devoted dad, husband, son, brother, and friend to many. He had a love for fishing and hunting, and enjoyed afternoon rides with his best riding companion, Butterbean. He worked with Jackson Construction and retired from Uniroyal-Goodrich in 2003.
The family accepted flowers or suggests that a donation be made to the American Heart Association at www.heart.org in Kim’s memory.
Jeffcoat-Trant Funeral Home directed.
www.jeffcoatrant.com
Raye Francena
Rigby Newton
1935-2015
Raye Francena Rigby Newton passed away peacefully at home on Monday, August 17, in Auburn, Alabama at the age of 79.
Raye is survived by her husband David Newton, Sr., children David Newton, Jr. (Nancy) of Huntsville, AL, Camille Turner (Richard) of Trussville, AL, Elizabeth Lundey (Tom) of Auburn, AL, and grandchildren Amanda Newton, Melinda and Stuart Turner, and Sarah Elizabeth and David Lundey. She is preceded in death by her parents, Ruby Raye Robinson and Bryan Rigby.
Raye was born on October 14, 1935, in Doddsville, MS. She did not graduate from high school, but instead followed her sweetheart to The University of Mississippi when she was 16 years old. She joined Kappa Kappa Gamma and remained a loyal member the remainder of her life. David joined the military and the two were married in Baltimore, MD, in 1954. They spent the first 14 months of their marriage in Stuttgart, Germany. They then returned to Mississippi where David earned his M.B.A. and Raye earned her B.A. in English Education. The couple moved to Knoxville, TN, and later Asheville, NC, where David, Jr., and Camille were born. They returned to her beloved Oxford, MS, and the University of Mississippi for David’s re-entry into academia and this is where Elizabeth was born. While David earned his PhD, they moved to Silver Spring, MD, for a short time. The family eventually moved to Houston, TX, and then Auburn, AL, in 1974 where Raye lived the remainder of her life.
For 19 years, Raye served Auburn City Schools and Dean Road Elementary School as a school library media specialist. During this time, she proudly graduated from Auburn University with her M.Ed. in School Library Media. With her many students, she shared a love of reading. Even after retirement, she maintained strong connections with many of her former students. After retirement, Raye and David traveled the world, visiting such far away places as Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and Iceland.
When the family moved to Auburn, Raye made Holy Trinity Episcopal Church the family’s church home. She shared her time and talents with the congregation as a member of the choir, altar guild, Episcopal Church Women, Glanton Trust board, the Funeral Guild, and the Vestry. She helped with fashion shows, women’s festivals, vacation bible schools, potlucks, and pancake suppers.
A memorial service was held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, August 22, at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, with the reception in the church’s parish hall. The Rev. Geoffrey P. Evans was the officiate of the ceremony. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the charity of your choice or to Holy Trinity Episcopal Church.
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Thelma Jean
Tays Bohanan
Thelma Jean Tays Bohanan died August 18 at her home in Auburn, Alabama. Jean Bohanan was born and reared in Central City, Arkansas. Later, Fort Smith, Arkansas, became home to Jean and the Tays family, and eventually Jean and her husband, Donald “Bo” Bohanan, would make their home there. They relocated to Auburn in 2003 to assist in the care of their grandson and to be near family.
In 1953, Jean married First Lieutenant Donald E. Bohanan. He was stationed at nearby Fort Chaffee, and the newlyweds soon moved to Fort Knox before shipping out to Hammelburg, West Germany. She became part of a very special breed, a Cold War army wife. Two three-year tours in Germany and multiple moves in the U.S. meant that Jean became expert at relocation and setting up house. She also learned how to execute plans for evacuating dependents from West Germany and regularly participated in such drills. More importantly, like many U.S. Army and Air Force wives, Jean lived and carried on through some very tense moments during the Cold War in West Germany, including the construction of the Berlin Wall, and times when imminent conflict with the Soviet Union seemed very close indeed. She was the epitome of the military wife or husband, who in a context of incredible and horrible historical times, soldiered on by rearing the children and maintaining the home. The Donald Bohanan and Frank M. Smith families of Auburn would like to use this moment to celebrate all military spouses and the enduring contributions they make to the nation.
When her husband retired from the army in 1968, the family returned to Fort Smith and made it their home. There they reared and educated three daughters, including twins, were caregivers to aging parents, relished grandparenthood, and enjoyed life in western Arkansas. A devoted wife, mother, and daughter, family was the focus of Jean’s life. When their daughter, Lindy, died in 2003 they moved to Auburn to assist in the rearing of her son, Eric. Here they enjoyed especially the companionship of caring neighbors living in the Burke Place community, foremost among them Doris Howland, Mike and Liz D’Orio, and Mike and Jane Bracht.
Jean is survived by her devoted husband of 61 years, Donald E. Bohanan, her eldest daughter, Donna Jean Bohanan (Frank M. Smith) of Auburn, her surviving twin daughter, Cynthia Lea Ackermann-Bohanan (Paul Ackermann) of Bern, Switzerland, and her grandson, Eric Lee Bohanan-Caddell of Auburn. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Belinda Kay “Lindy” Bohanan.
The family would like to express their gratitude to Dr. Jonathan Commander and Dianne Mitchell for their compassionate care. And to Michael Key, Marah Sanders, Alfreda Crosby, Evelyn Louise Philpott, LouRenia Wilborn, April Lockhart, and Aubrey Walker, we cannot thank you enough for all the support, care and love shown Jean and the family.
There was a visitation at Jeffcoat-Trant Funeral Home, 10:00-11:00 a.m., Friday, and a grave side service at Fort Mitchell National Cemetery at 1:00 CST.
The family would like to suggest contributions be made to the American Cancer Society or to the Ronald McDonald House of Columbus, Georgia, two charities that were especially important to Jean and Bo.
Jeffcoat-Trant Funeral Home & Crematory directed.
www.jeffcoattrant.com