Frankye Stephenson Bright

Frankye Stephenson Bright died on December 2, 2013. Born on January 7, 1913, in the ByWy Community of Choctaw County, Mississippi, she was the daughter of John Tom and Ila Velma Daves Stephenson and the granddaughter of Newton McKnight and Musurah Catherine Connaway Stephenson and William Wesley and Mary Susan Cummings Daves, all of Choctaw County. She was the fourth of nine children: Bertie Coy Stephenson, Doyle Reed Stephenson, Exa R. Myrtle Stephenson Busby, Frankye, Addie Irene Stephenson Robinson, John Kilpatrick Stephenson, Grace Marie Stephenson Nabors, William Newt Stephenson, and Anna Fay Stephenson Guest. Frankye was married for 49 years to Myrah Clinton Bright, who died in 1988.
Frankye Bright attended Bennett Academy, Wood Junior College, and State Teachers College (now The University of Southern Mississippi). She was an elementary school teacher at Hebron in Reform, Mississippi, in the 1930s and later in DeKalb County, Georgia. Mrs. Bright lived in Avondale Estates, Georgia, until 2003 when she moved to Sewanee, Tennessee, to live with family.
She was a member of Columbia Presbyterian Church in Decatur, Georgia. She served as President of the Presbyterian Women and was given an honorary Life Membership, organized the Women of the Church prayer group, was a member of the ABC Class, taught Sunday School for many years, and was Superintendent of Children's Work for three years.
Frankye Bright is survived by her sister, Anna Fay Stephenson Guest of Madison, Alabama, and her children, Linda Carole Bright Lankewicz (husband Frank) of Sewanee, Tennessee, and Harold Reed Bright (wife Cheryl) of Elora, Tennessee. She is survived by grandchildren David Wayne Lankewicz (wife Jennifer) of Hickory, North Carolina; Gentry Ann Lankewicz Holbert (husband Robert) of Mobile, Alabama; Lt. Commander Dr. Andrew Clinton Bright (wife Heather) of Grand Bay, Alabama; and Beverly Catherine Bright Powell (husband David) of Navarre, Florida. Her great-grandchildren are Parker Ashley Lankewicz of Hickory, North Carolina, and Sewanee, Tennessee; John Helton of Hickory, North Carolina; Ulysses David Holbert and Ursula Ann Holbert of Mobile, Alabama; Isabella Catherine Powell and Evelyn Annemarie Powell of Navarre, Florida; and Rex Andrew Bright of Grand Bay, Alabama.

Funeral services will be at Enon Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Ackerman, Mississippi, on Saturday, December 7, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. with burial in the Enon Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to Columbia Presbyterian Church for the Myrah C. Bright Scholarship Fund or to a church of your choice.