Frances Eloise Bilderback Ladd, age 88, died Saturday, June 18, 2016, in Clarksville, TN.
The Celebration of Life Service will be held Wednesday, June 22, at 11:00 AM, at First Presbyterian Church. Burial will follow at Greenwood Cemetery. The family will receive friends Tuesday, June 21, from 5:00 to 7:00 PM, at Neal-Tarpley-Parchman Funeral Home, and Wednesday, June 22, from 10:00 AM until the hour of service, at the church.
Mrs. Ladd was born February 17, 1928, in McMinn County, TN. She was the daughter of the late James Elkins and Emma Carter Bilderback. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Walter Garnett Ladd, Jr., and her son-in-law, Dale R. Mayo.
Mrs. Ladd worked for the Director of Christian Education of the Synod of Appalachia in Knoxville and Montreat, NC before attending the Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, VA. She came to Clarksville in the summers of 1954 and 1955, while still a student, to work with the youth of First Presbyterian Church. In 1956, she became the first Director of Christian Education at that church. She served as Director of the Church Pre-School Program from 1963 to 1968. She was a retired teacher from the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System. She began her teaching in Montgomery County’s first kindergarten in 1969, at Roosevelt School.
Mrs. Ladd was a member of First Presbyterian Church, where she previously served as elder, past president of Presbyterian Woman and a member of the Investment Advisory Committee. She was a member of the William Edmiston Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Amateur Garden Club, the Elgante Club, the Retired Teachers Association, former member of the Women’s Book Club, and her bridge clubs. She was deeply devoted to her family and her church.
She is survived by a daughter, Gerda Ladd Mayo; son, Walter Garnett (Nancy) Ladd III; four grandchildren, Elizabeth Eloise Ladd (Corby) Arnett, Walter Garnett Ladd IV, Claire Lillian Mayo, and Hannah Rose Mayo; and great grandchild, Harper Elizabeth Arnett.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to First Presbyterian Church, 213 Main Street, Clarksville, TN 37040.
Pallbearers will be representatives of First Presbyterian Church.
Arrangements are entrusted to Neal-Tarpley-Parchman Funeral Home, 1510 Madison Street, Clarksville, TN 37040; (931) 645-6488.