Mary Lee Franklin

Age 79 of a 4 Chapel Terrace, Newport entered into eternal rest Wednesday, June 28, 2017. Mary was born April 20, 1938 in Marengo County, Alabama. She was the daughter of the late Thomas Junius and Daisy Elsmore Harris. Mary was a resident of Newport for over 50 years, most of that time in the Chapel Terrace neighborhood. Mary had a genuine love for family, both biological and extended. She was a generous woman who helped anyone in need and was loved as the matriarch of the neighborhood for decades. She was a longtime volunteer at the St Pauls Thrift Store and the former St. Paul's Priory on Narragansett Ave. Mary was a longtime communicant of St. Mary's Church and was a member of their Legion of Mary. She had a deep passion for cooking and gardening. She started the Newport Housing Authority Garden Club and received many awards for her flowers. She is survived by five daughters, Sandra Bufford-Brooks of Ft. Worth, Texas, Kay Taylor of Mobile, ALa., Ruby Franklin and Beverly Franklin, both of Newport, and MaryAnn Crook of Middletown, her adopted dauther Shirley Rose, her sister Betty Thames of Pensacola, Fla., and her brother Nelse (Stella) Taylor of Mobile, Ala. She also leaves her grandchildren, Mandrell Bufford, Domingo and Dinique Brooks and Martinique Grice, Angelique Franklin Milka, Ana and Jana Tolich,Danielle, Marques, Andre, Elias (Hanna) Franklin, and Hanna Salines; as well as her godson, Raymond Stepford. She also is survived by 20 great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. She was greeted in Heaven by her daughter, Debra Lee Franklin, grandsons Sgt. Michael T. Franklin and Bruce M. Franklin, her parents Daisy and Thomas, her sisters Daisy Robinson, Ella Mae Bruno, and Mary Gooden, her brothers Sam Hollis, Mark Hollis, Henry Taylor, and Richard Taylor. Calling hours will be Tuesday, July 11, 2017 from 10 am until 12 noon at Serenity Funeral Home, 8691 Old Pascagoula Rd., Theodore, AL. Graveside service will be held in Lawn Haven Memorial Gardens Tuesday, July 11, 2017 at 12 noon. In lieu of flowers, please make memorial donations may be made to St. Pauls Thrift Shop, 326 Broadway, Newport, RI 02840.

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Mary Lee Franklin

April 20, 1938 - June 28, 2017