Frankston Area Obituaries — 1999-Present

Here are the obituaries posted for the current month from information provided courtesy of local and area funeral homes and published on their websites or those submitted by families. If an obituary is overlooked and it is desired that it be posted, please inform us at frankstondepotlibrary@gmail.com . Families may request changes or additions, if required. If you have an obituary for a person who has connections with someone or some family in the Frankston-Poynor-LaRue or Lake Palestine area that you want posted to this month or to the archives, and is not currently posted, please let us know at frankstondepotlibrary@gmail.com . Obituaries selected or submitted should follow a format which is essentially consistent with other obituaries posted here or by funeral homes and follow standard grammatical style. Through arrangements with funeral homes and/or the families, we will publish pictures with current obituaries. We will add pictures to archived obituaries from the print version of The Citizen newspaper prior to September 2019 when available. Pictures with archived obituaries posted after that will be added in cooperation with funeral homes or on requests from families.  As was the tradition of the Citizen newspaper, obituaries are published at no charge.

(Obituaries listed chronologically by date of death or funeral service.)

G.M. 'Red' Billingsley

Funeral services for G.M. “Red” Billingsley, 75, of Frankston were held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2, at Thompson Funeral Home in Frankston with Rev. J.A. Griffin and Doug Heslip officiating.

Burial was in Frankston City Cemetery with arrangements by Thompson Funeral Home.

Mr. Billingsley died Sunday, Sept. 29, in a Terrell hospital.

He was born Jan. 11, 1927 in Frankston and was a lifetime resident.

He was a cattle buyer, a member of the Church of Christ and served in the U.S. Army during World War II.

Survivors include his wife, Jean Billingsley of Frankston; three sons, Mark Billingsley, Clay Billingsley, Kent Billingsley and his wife, Cameron, all of Frankston; a daughter, Marsha Billingsley of Frankston; three sisters, Reba Hicks and her husband, J.C., Dixie Cox and Gwen Boyett, all of Frankston; a granddaughter, Caroline Billingsley of Frankston; and a sister-in-law, Hazel Wylie of Athens.

Pallbearers were V.N. Marrs, Billy Bacon, Bill Harden, Audry Owens, Jerry Boles, L.D. Davis Jr., Don Forester, Vernon Calhoun, Pee Wee Forester and Wayne Phillips.

Honorary pallbearers were Joe Chapman, Bud Cade, Pat Hanna, Pete Westbrook, Ray Carter, Jerry Vick, Dr. Aliene Fischer, and Staff of Terrell State Hospital.

Memorials may be made to Martha Allen Family Center at Terrell State Hospital, P.O. Box 70, Terrell, TX 75160.

L.B. Harris

Funeral services for L.B. “Elbirtis” Harris, 88, of Frankston were held at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 4, at the First Baptist Church of Frankston under the direction of Thompson Funeral Home, with the Rev. Eddie Hilburn, Rev. J.A. Griffin and Gerald Hall Jr. officiating.

Burial was at Frankston City Cemetery.

Mr. Harris died Wednesday, Oct. 2, in a Frankston nursing center.

He was born Sept. 27, 1914 in DeBerry, Panola County, TX. He was a concrete finisher and a Baptist.

Mr. Harris was preceded in death by a daughter, Tiny Mae Harris; and a son, Elvin Harris.

Survivors include his wife, Thelma Harris of Frankston; sons, Ray F. Harris of Frankston, James E. Harris of Jacksonville and Jimmy R. Harris of Athens; daughters, Nettie Holland of Malakoff, Nell Hall of Palestine and Diane Beard of Frankston; a brother, Walter Ray Harris of Jacksonville; a sister, Eula Mae Mize of Waskom; 26 grandchildren, 29 great-grandchildren, two great-great grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Pallbearers were Bobby Harris, Craig Hawkins, Gerald Hall Jr., Craig Friberg, Joshua Harris, Gregg Goodwin, Paul Hintz and Chad Leonard.

Honorary pallbearers will be all the grandchildren.

Catherine Clakley Harper

Funeral services for Catherine Clakley Harper, 67, of Frankston were held at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 11, in the Thompson Funeral Home Chapel in Frankston with Rev. Eddie Hilburn officiating.

Burial was held at the Liberty Hill Cemetery, Frankston.

Mrs. Harper died Tuesday, Oct. 8, in a Tyler hospital.

She was born Oct. 27, 1934 in Jacksonville.

Mrs. Harper was a homemaker and a member of the First Baptist Church, Frankston.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Walton Harper Sr.

Survivors include sons, Walton Harper Jr. of Mauriceville and Robert Harper of Cincinnati, OH; a daughter, Pam Powell of Mauriceville; a brother, Louis Ray Clakley of Frankston; sisters, Jean Loftin and Gwen Hoffman, both of Frankston, and Ruth Dark of Dallas; three grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

Pallbearers were Mike Dennis, Fred Stanly, David Smith, Herbert Riley, Darrell Boling and James Dickerson.

Joyce Oleta Corey

Funeral services for Mrs. Joyce Oleta Corey, 60, of Frankston were held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 12, at Renfro Memorial Chapel at Boren Conner Funeral Home in Jacksonville with Rev. Sam Boyd officiating.

Burial was in Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery Monday, Oct. 14, at 10 a.m. under direction of Boren-Conner Funeral Home, Jacksonville.

Mrs. Corey died Tuesday, Oct 8, in Lawton, Okla.

She was born Oct. 13, 1941 in Rusk and was a lifelong area resident.

Mrs. Corey was of the Episcopal faith, a housewife and member of the VFW Ladies Auxiliary

Survivors include her husband, Frank Corey Sr. of Frankston; four sons, Ronald Corey of Odessa, Frank Corey Jr. of Galveston, Scott Corey of Gardendale and Martin Corey of Frankston; two daughters, Misty Corey of Odessa and Stacey Corey of Jacksonville; one brother, Buster Chandler of Lufkin; one sister, Vickie Vankirk of Herold, CA.; and 10 grandchildren.

Family members served as pallbearers.

Honorary pallbearers were Marvin Howell, Rick McCoy, Mathew Bobbitt and Mark Bobbitt.

Lee A. Sledge

Funeral services for Lee A. Sledge, 73, of Frankston were held at 10 a.m. Monday, Oct. 28, in the Thompson Funeral Home Chapel in Frankston with Rev. Mark Pedersen and Rev. Grover Talbert officiating.

Burial was at the Cedar Creek Cemetery in Hempstead.

Mr. Sledge died Thursday, Oct. 24, in a Palestine hospital.

He was born May 13, 1929 in Hempstead.

Mr. Sledge was operations manager for Southwestern Bell for 32 years. He was a member of United Methodist Church in Frankston and served in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict. Mr. Sledge was a member of William Foster Masonic Lodge No 312, Frankston chapter of Eastern Star No. 1113, and was also a Shriner.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Edward Eugene and Cynthia Sledge; brothers, Roland Sledge, Harry Sledge and Bud Sledge; and a sister, Lillian Amsler.

Survivors include his wife, Debra Sledge of Frankston; a son and daughter-in-law, Steven C. and Gail Sledge of Luling; daughter and son-in-law, Jean Paula and Ben Chalfant of Valdese, NC, and Leigh Ann Sledge of Frankston; three grandchildren, Steven Michael Sledge, Karla Nichole Crump and Derrick Chalfant; two great-grandchildren, Taylore Crump and Cole McCall; several nieces and nephews and close friends.

Pallbearers were members of Williams Foster Masonic Lodge No. 312 of Frankston.

Memorials may be made to William Foster Lodge No. 312 of Frankston.(Obituaries posted contain information posted by funeral homes and/or families. Families may request changes or additions, if appropriate or required.)