Frances Cockerham Ashby Randleman

Frances Cockerham Ashby Randleman, 98, passed away Monday, April 15, 2019, at the Joan and Howard Woltz Hospice Home.  Frances (Kitty) was born April 10, 1921, to J.E. and Ethel Lowe Cockerham in Lowgap.  She graduated from Women’s College (now UNC-Greensboro) in 1942 with a degree in education.  She married Robert E. Ashby, Jr. (Buddy) in 1942 and taught school while Buddy served in the army overseas.  After Buddy’s death in 1948, she married Charles H. Randleman (Charlie), and together they owned and operated Cockerham’s Florist and Blue Ridge Evergreen Company.  Surviving family include a daughter, Lou Ashby Young and her husband, Bob, of Greensboro; a granddaughter, April Ashby of Charlotte; a daughter-in-law, Sue Ashby of Winston-Salem; a nephew, John Gehring and his wife, Jane, of Winston-Salem; and a nephew, Robert Gehring of King.  Preceding her in death were her husband Buddy Ashby (1948); her husband, Charlie Randleman (2001); a son, Robert E. Ashby, III (1993); and a sister, Doris Gehring (2016).  The family would like to thank the Joan and Howard Woltz Hospice Home in Dobson, particularly Jenny Carico, whose kindness and gentleness helped make Kitty’s final hours peaceful, and all the wonderful staff at Ridgecrest Retirement Community, especially Debbie Griffin, her friend, nurse, and guardian angel, who was with her throughout her six years at Ridgecrest.  A  service will be held Saturday, May 11, 2019, at 11:00 AM in the Fireside Room at First Baptist Church, 714 N. Main St., Mount Airy, NC 27030, with the Rev. Jay Meadows officiating.  Memorial contributions may be made to the First Baptist Church, 714 North Main Street, Mount Airy, NC  27030; or the Joan and Howard Woltz Hospice Home, 945 Zephyr Road, Dobson, NC  27017.  Moody Funeral Services in Mount Airy is serving the family.