Frances Ward Black Holland

Frances Ward was born on January 20, 1927 to Daniel Damascus Ward and Bessie Mae Grady Ward. She grew up seven miles outside of the town of Mt. Olive, NC in Duplin County, near Garner’s Chapel Baptist Church, which would play a vital role in her life.

When she was two years old, Fran’s father died while helping to put out a neighbor’s house fire. Her mother married a widower, Elmer Goodson, in 1933 who became her “Daddy.” Fran attended Mt. Olive High School from which she graduated as class valedictorian. She graduated from Meredith College in Raleigh in 1948, majoring in Bible and Religion.

Fran’s first job after college was as a Bible teacher in the public schools of Selma, NC. But In 1951, she accepted an offer from the Kannapolis Bible Teacher’s Association to teach Bible at J.W. Cannon School and A.L. Brown High School and moved to Kannapolis.

Two years later, in 1953, she married Baxter Franklin Black, Jr. of Kannapolis, a widower, with a teenage son, Baxter Franklin Black III, better known as “Frankie.” Baxter owned and operated several drugstores.

Fran continued to teach Bible in Kannapolis until the birth of Janet Ward Black, their only child, in 1959. It was in the fall of that year that Fran began teaching English at Concord High School. She retired in 1983, at the close of a 30-year teaching career, having shaped the lives and language skills of thousands of Cabarrus County public school students.

After Fran’s husband, Baxter, died in 1980, she married retired Cannon Mills chemist, Dr. Victor Bradshaw (“Brad”) Holland, on Christmas Day of 1983. After almost twenty years of marriage, Brad passed away in 2002.

A member of First Presbyterian Church in Kannapolis and later Trinity United Methodist in Kannapolis, she taught the J.W. Bullock Men’s Sunday School Class at Trinity for over thirty years. Her last lesson there was on December 11, 2016, six weeks before her 90th birthday.

Fran was a renowned public speaker and a tireless community leader. She was a longtime member of the Concord Rotary Club, Concord Business and Professional Women’s Group, and United Commercial Travelers. She was named “Woman of the Year” in 1994 by Concord BPW, was a Paul Harris fellow at Rotary, and served on the Kannapolis YMCA board. She was a charter member of the Stocks R Us Club in Concord and was the oldest living member of Concord’s Sidney Lanier Book Club, having been a member for more than 60 years.

Fran was instrumental in the creation of Concord’s Christian Women’s Club. She remained a member of First Presbyterian’s Women’s Circle in Kannapolis and Central United Methodist Circle in Concord. She served for years as the narrator for concerts of the Piedmont Singing Men. Fran was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest civilian honor in North Carolina, on her 80th birthday.

She is survived by Janet Ward Black and her husband Gerard Davidson of Greensboro; Baxter Franklin “Frank” Black III and his wife Bonnie of La Canada, California; sister Avis Goodson Ridenhour of Greensboro; Brad’s children, Saranett Holland Shelton and her husband Baxter and Victor Holland and his wife Diann, of Kannapolis and their children, Brad, Holly and Victor; Gerard’s sons, Clay Davidson of Greensboro and Walker Davidson of Charlotte; nephew Jeff Sasser and his son Lee; niece Chelsie Ridenhour and her children Ryder, Porter and Audrey; and Gerard’s sister Jan Green and her sons Gaines and Cary.

Fran was so very proud of Frank’s and Bonnie’s children, Baxter Franklin Black IV and her namesake Frances Black Delgatty and her husband, Grant; their grandchildren Brenda, Michelle, Jennifer, Justin, Dezin, Racin, and Braxtin and their great-grandchildren Cayden, Kaleigh Mae, Calder, Kiera, Blake and Carlynn. All are residents of California.

For many years Fran was able to continue to live life to the fullest with the help of caregivers who became the dearest of friends: Bea Hinson, Millie Fink, Louise Bush, Pat Wood, all of Kannapolis, Karen Huff of Salisbury, and Roy and Mary Scott of Locust.

The family will greet friends on Thursday, July 6, 2017, at Lady’s Funeral Home, 268 N. Cannon Blvd. and at Fran’s home, 258 N. Cannon Boulevard (which is next door) in Kannapolis from 5 to 8:00 pm. A memorial service will be held at 2:00 pm Saturday, July 8, 2017, at Trinity United Methodist Church in Kannapolis.

Cooperative Christian Ministry awards the “Fran Black Holland Scholarship” each year to a high school senior who exemplifies integrity and public service. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to “CCM” at PO Box 1717, Concord, NC 28025-1717 for the Fran Holland Scholarship Fund or online at cooperativeministry.com.