ELIZABETH LEE FARR
Elizabeth Lee Farr, 67, of Marietta, Georgia, passed away Oct. 21, 2026. She was born in 1959 to Marion Wallace Farr Sr. and Emma Fleming Farr.
Liz graduated from Scott Preparatory School and Auburn University, where she earned a degree in marketing.
Liz enjoyed traveling, shopping and reading. She especially loved cozy British mysteries and cherished spending time with her beloved Yorkies, Sadie and Lydia. Her dogs were a constant source of companionship and joy, and she delighted in taking them on walks with her neighbors. Liz was a true friend to everyone she met, and her kindness and friendship will be fondly remembered by all who knew her.
Liz was preceded in death by her parents, Wallace Farr and Emma Farr.
She is survived by her sisters, Gail Greene and Susan Young (Burt); her brothers, Wallace Farr (Linda) and Russell Farr; and her nephews, Stephen Farr (Kirby), David Farr (Meagan), Robert Farr (Madeline), Bryan Farr, Clayton Farr, Drew Young (Shea), Brad Young (Alexus) and Taylor Young (Callie). She is also survived by her niece, Allison Harp (Harrison), along with many extended family members and dear friends who will cherish her memory.
The family will receive friends Thursday, Nov. 12, from 1 to 2 p.m. ET at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia. A funeral service will follow at 2 p.m. at the church.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Liz’s memory to Tranquility at Wellstar Hospice Care in Kennesaw, Georgia, or to Furkids Animal Rescue and Shelter in Marietta, Georgia.
Liz will be remembered for her love of family and friends, her warm spirit and the simple joys that brought happiness to her life. She will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered by all who had the privilege of knowing her.
DEBORAH ANN
SCULLY WILCHER
Deborah Ann Scully Wilcher, known as Debi to family and friends, passed away Oct. 27, 2026, at Bethany House Compassus Hospice in Auburn at the age of 63.
Debi was born at Martin Army Hospital at Fort Benning, Georgia. The youngest of four children of Frank and Fridl Scully, and a proud “Army brat,” Debi grew up in both Germany and the United States. Debi always valued the life she enjoyed as a military dependent and honored the life of service and sacrifice experienced by military families.
She graduated from Auburn High School and attended Auburn University. It was during her teen years and early adulthood that Debi became an avowed Auburn fan. She loved any sport in which an Auburn team was participating and was a central figure in a fall tailgate on Donahue Drive that has endured for more than 40 years. Her deviled eggs, coconut macaroons and pecan pie tarts were staples at those tailgates.
She moved to central Florida briefly in her younger years and worked in hospitality, logistics and franchising businesses. In the summer of 2000, she returned to Auburn, where her son, Sean, was born. Debi was always devoted to her family, especially her son, Sean. She helped care for her mother during the last years of her life and was always ready for a family get-together. Game nights were a highlight of family gatherings and were usually competitive.
Debi worked at the Lee County Youth Development Center before beginning her career as a clerk at the Auburn Satellite Office of the Lee County Courthouse. Over a 13-year career, she progressed to manager of that location, where she worked until her death.
Debi was preceded in death by her parents, Francis E. (Frank) and Fridl (Miller) Scully of Auburn; her oldest brother, Jim Scully of Opelika; and her former husband, Mike Wilcher.
Debi is survived by her son, Sean Michael Wilcher of Auburn; brother, Steven Scully, and his wife, Judy, of Opelika; sister, Kimberly Scully Wesley, and her husband, Raymond, of Opelika; sister-in-law, Lisa Caplan Scully of Opelika; and many friends and extended family members who will miss her dearly.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Debi’s honor to the Auburn Student Veterans Association at Auburn University, www.auburnasva.com.
Plans for a celebration of life are underway. Jeffcoat-Trant Funeral Home in Opelika is assisting the family during this difficult time.
RUDENE BOWLING
CLANTON
Rudene Bowling Clanton, 94, born in Alabama on Nov. 6, 1931, to the late Jesse and Bernice Sims Bowling, passed away in Opelika on Oct. 28, 2026.
Mrs. Clanton lived a life marked by a love of travel, sports and visiting state capitol buildings. She dedicated her life to her work as a beloved homemaker and as an inspector at the Ampex Magnetic Tape Division in Opelika for more than 20 years.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her siblings, John Tom Bowling, Windol Bowling, Frances Wilbanks and Edward Bowling; her loving husband, Jack Clanton, with whom she shared 68 years; and her daughter, Janet Clanton Smith.
She is survived by her children, Reita Clanton, Dennis Clanton (Kathy) and Suzanne Baker (Rusty). Her legacy lives on through her grandchildren, Erin Smith, Allison Smith (Darren), Meghan Clanton, Arrie Clanton, Chase Baker (Baylee), Jesse Baker and Tori Dezauche (Logan), as well as her great-grandchildren, Jack Till, Mason Till and Ella Catherine Baker.
A visitation was held at Frederick-Dean Funeral Home on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, at 2 p.m., followed by a funeral service in the chapel at Frederick-Dean. A private burial took place on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026.
DR. JOHN CARL MORACCO
John Carl Moracco of Auburn, passed away peacefully at home on Oct. 25, 2026, at the age of 88. John was born in Geneva, New York, on Sept. 10, 1938, the fourth of the late Anthony and Carmela (Guererri) Moracco’s six children. He grew up in a vibrant Italian American community on Angelo Street, where three families who emigrated together from the same area of Calabria, Italy, had settled in the early 1900s. On Angelo Street, the food was delicious and plentiful, nobody knocked and everyone was somehow related.
A 1956 graduate of Geneva High School, John was named best all-around athlete in his senior year, was a two-time state wrestling champion and lettered in wrestling, football and track. He was also an excellent student and went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in education from SUNY Cortland in 1960, where he was on the varsity wrestling team. After graduation, he taught fifth and sixth grades in Rochester, New York, before receiving a fellowship to attend Arizona State University, where he earned a master’s degree in counselor education in 1969. John received a fellowship for his doctoral studies, so he and his growing family moved from Arizona to Iowa City, Iowa, where he helped set up the University of Iowa Lab School and was awarded his doctorate in counselor education in 1971.
Following graduation, he accepted a position as an assistant professor in the School of Education at the American University of Beirut in Beirut, Lebanon — halfway around the world and a long way from Angelo Street. In those days, Beirut was a flourishing, multicultural metropolis, and John and his family thrived there. John enjoyed working with the international student body and the quirky intellectuals who made up the faculty and was a key player on the AUB faculty softball team, which, despite its enthusiastic fanbase, was a perennial basement dweller in the city’s softball league. He and his family embarked on numerous road trip adventures that traversed Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and Jordan and included camping among Roman ruins in Jerash, a horseback ride on a narrow mountain trail to the Nabataean ruins in Petra and getting their VW station wagon dug out of the sand by Bedouins in Wadi Rum. The civil war in Lebanon cut short John’s tenure at AUB. After his return to the U.S. and a one-year stint as a visiting professor at the University of Iowa, John accepted a faculty position in 1978 at Auburn University in the Department of Counseling and Counseling Psychology, where he remained until retiring as a professor emeritus in 1995.
During his university career, John published dozens of articles in peer-reviewed journals, as well as an influential textbook, “Comprehensive Approach to Human Relations Development: Advanced Human Relations Training Program,” co-authored with his friend and Auburn University colleague, the late Earl Higgins, in 1985. John was Auburn’s liaison to the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs and was selected for the Outstanding Contributor to the Extension Program award by the School of Education in 1995. He exemplified the gruff-yet-lovable professor, including his cluttered office in Auburn’s Haley Center, full of numerous alarming stacks of articles, books and papers. He became an avid Auburn football fan and found a secret parking spot near Jordan-Hare Stadium, the location of which he is taking to his grave, and was pleased that one of his daughters, his son, son-in-law and two of his grandsons graduated from Auburn.
In retirement, John ramped up his love of gardening and cultivated tomatoes, zucchini, sweet peas and garlic transplanted from his mother’s garden in Geneva. His harvests were so abundant that he frequently donated fresh produce to local food banks. Unable to stay away from teaching for long, he taught classes part-time at Troy University until 2013. John also enjoyed visits from his adult children and grandchildren and secretly delighted in handing out gifts as the Christmas Frog and providing tractor rides to the grandkids, who called him “Paroka.” He was convinced that he was a great cook and had a few “world-famous” dishes that he would produce with a flourish.
John was proud of his Italian heritage, academic accomplishments, homegrown tomatoes, largely imagined culinary skills and all his children and grandchildren. Despite being from a large, boisterous family, he was an introvert and had a small circle of close friends to whom he was incredibly loyal.
In addition to his parents, John was preceded in death by his brothers, Albert Moracco of Trumansburg, New York; Francis (Chico) Moracco of Geneva, New York; and Edward Moracco of Geneva, New York. He is survived by his children, Kathryn Elizabeth (Beth) Moracco of Carrboro, North Carolina; Karen Lee (David) Knecht of LaGrange, Illinois; and John George (Jack) Moracco (Christin Coan) of Carrboro, North Carolina; seven grandchildren, Jessica, Garrett and Erik Knecht, Mikaela and Elijah Moracco-Schelp, and Paul and Geneva Moracco; great-granddaughter, Alice Knecht; brother, David Moracco (Sharron) of Minneapolis, Minnesota; sister, Barbara Siegfried of Charleston, South Carolina; his former wife, Judy Northridge Wyne; and 13 nieces and nephews.
The family is deeply grateful to Tonya Felton and Annie Philpot for their loving care for John over the past 13 years as his health declined.
Visitation will be held Friday, Nov. 6, from 1 to 2 p.m. at Jeffcoat-Trant Funeral Home, 1500 Frederick Road, followed by a funeral service in the Jeffcoat-Trant chapel and burial at Town Creek Cemetery, 1150 S. Gay St. in Auburn.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating food, funds or your time to:
Food Bank of East Alabama, 355 Industry Drive, Auburn, AL 36832.
FRANKLIN LEE TAUNTON
Franklin Lee Taunton, 58, affectionately known as Frank, of Valley, passed away Oct. 28, 2026, at East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika. He was born Sept. 6, 1968, in Valley, to Franklin D. Taunton and Shirley Jean Thrower Taunton, both of whom preceded him in death.
Frank attended Valley High School and also studied at Southern Union State Community College. Though disabled later in life, during his working years, he worked with Chambers County 911 and the Valley Police Department as a 911 dispatcher and also served as a security guard at Lanier Hospital. He attended Plant City Baptist Church.
He enjoyed playing games on his phone and especially loved going to Six Flags and Disney World with his family. He met his loving wife, Melissa, while they both worked at Lanier Hospital, where he was a security guard and she was an emergency room registration clerk.
He is survived by his wife, Melissa Cooper Taunton; his daughter, Kaelynne Taunton; his sister, Elizabeth Sherrill of Wildwood, Georgia; his brother, Stephen (Donna) Taunton of Greenville, Georgia; his mother-in-law, Nancy Cooper of Woodstock, Georgia; his grandmother-in-law, Hazel P. Pulliam of Marietta, Georgia; his nephew, Jason Dillion Sherrill of Wildwood, Georgia; and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, relatives and friends from Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
In addition to his parents, Frank was preceded in death by his mother-in-law, Vicki Y. Cooper; his father-in-law, Jack S. Cooper; his sister-in-law, Lauren Cooper; his nephew, Jamie Barrett; his grandparents, Grace and John Taunton and Annie Lee and Oscar Bennett Thrower; and A.G. Pulliam.
A service will be held for Frank on Nov. 7 at 11 a.m. ET at Plant City Baptist Church in Lanett, Alabama.
Flowers will be accepted at his home address.
Valley-Point Funeral Home & Cremation is honored to serve the family of Franklin Lee Taunton.
SHIRLEY LEE HUDMAN
Shirley Lee Hudman Clark, age 92, of Opelika, Alabama, passed away peacefully on Oct. 30, 2026, at Bethany House in Auburn, Alabama.
Shirley was born on Sept. 21, 1934, in Jacksonville, Florida. Throughout her life, she cherished her family and the many special memories made along the way. She was a faithful member of Trinity Methodist Church, where her church family held a special place in her heart.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Garrett Hudman.
Shirley leaves behind to cherish her precious memories her loving husband of 53 years, Howard Clark; her daughters, Malinda “Lynn” Rogers (David), Valerie Rearden (Greg) and Wanda White (Pat); eight grandchildren; thirteen great-grandchildren; her sister, Doris Whitmarsh; along with numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and other beloved family members.
Funeral services will be held on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, at 2 p.m. at Trinity Methodist Church, with Reverend Earl Ballard and Reverend Jimmy Allen officiating. The family will receive friends from 1 to 1:45 p.m. in the sanctuary at Trinity Methodist Church. Burial will follow at Garden Hill Cemetery.
Shirley will be lovingly remembered by all who knew her, and her memory will forever remain in the hearts of those who loved her. Though she will be deeply missed, the love she shared and the memories she leaves behind will be treasured for generations to come.
Frederick-Dean Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.
