Barbara Mays Frantz

Barbara Mays Frantz

February 12, 1932 – July 12, 2014

Barbara Mays Frantz, 82, of Wilson passed away Saturday.  A memorial service will be conducted 3 p.m. Monday at First United Methodist Church, 100 W. Green Street, Wilson.  A private family inurnment will be held in the church columbarium.  The Rev. Charles Robl will officiate. Barbara was born on February 12, 1932 to Henry Marshall Mays and Ellen Tiffany Mays in Ashland, VA.  She grew up in Arlington, VA and moved to Garden City, NY as a teen.  She graduated from Garden City High School and Katherine Gibbs School in NY, NY. She married Robert Bruce Frantz in 1952 and lived in Virginia until moving to Asheville, NC in 1959.  While in Asheville, she was very active in The Junior League of Asheville and was a member of Central United Methodist Church. The family moved to Wilson in 1969.  She owned and operated The Knit Wit and Flutter Flags for twenty-five years, retiring in 2008.  She loved knitting and needlepoint and her children’s homes are filled with her handiwork.  After retirement, she continued to knit with a group of friends from her Knit Wit days. She is survived by her husband of sixty-two years, Robert Bruce “Bob” Frantz; her daughter, Kim Frantz Gauss and husband, Tav of Wilson; her son, Stuart Mays Frantz and wife, Ella of Raleigh; her daughter-in-law, Scotty Grine Frantz of Columbia, SC; her grandchildren, Megan Gauss Hill of Raleigh, Robert Douglas Gauss and wife, Nancy of NY,NY, Anna Marshall Gauss Wilson and husband, Charles of Raleigh, Flora McNeill Frantz and Robert Mays Frantz both of Raleigh, Sarah Reaville Frantz of Charlotte and Henry Adams Frantz of Columbia, SC; her great-grandchildren, Barbara Mays Hill and George Marshall Hill both of Raleigh; her sister, Jane Mays Tierney of NY; several much loved nieces and nephews and her beloved dogs, Molly and Madeline. She is preceded in death by her son, Robert Bruce “Brett” Frantz, Jr. In lieu of flowers memorials may be directed to The Foundation Fighting Blindness Foundation, PO Box 17279, Baltimore, MD  21298, The First United Methodist Church, PO Box 423, Wilson, NC  27894 or to the charity of one’s choice. Condolences may be directed to www.joyners.net.