Broades Harold Trantham

Broades Harold Trantham, 90, of 23 Edwards Road, Fairview, died Sunday, July 17, 2005, at his home. Mr. Trantham was born in Buncombe County and was one of fourteen children of the late Miles and Maude Trantham. He was also preceded in death by a grandson Johnathan Shane Owenby and a grand-son-in-law Dustin James Shelton. He was an Army veteran of WW II who served in northern France and the Rhineland Campaign. He was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Service Medal and was also awarded a Purple Heart which he declined, stating that he was there to serve his country, not to get awards. He was a farmer all his life and retired as Maintenance Supervisor after 28 years with the VA Medical Center in Asheville. He was a member of the VFW and of Laurel Pines Baptist Church. He is survived by his wife, Dollie Boone Trantham, to whom he would have been married for 70 years on December 31, 2005; one daughter, Millie Trantham Owenby and her husband Johnny of Fairview; two granddaughters, Monica Dawn Gunter and her husband Frank of Fairview and Mendi Shelton Rice and her husband Norman “Scrappy” of Pisgah Forest; six great-grandchildren, Seth Shelton, Jeremiah Shelton, Dylan Rice, Eli Rice, Tyler Gunter and Devin Gunter, plus one “on the way”. He is also survived by a sister, Dorothy Souther and her husband Ernest of Oakley as well as a nephew he raised, Billy Swayney and his wife Elaine, their son Brian Swayney and his wife Dawn. A funeral service will be 11:00 a.m. Tuesday in the Patton Avenue chapel of Groce Funeral Home with the Revs. Jeff Bowen and Charles Rogers officiating. Military honors will be provided by the Buncombe County Veterans Council at Cane Creek Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Frank Gunter, Scrappy Rice, Don Suddreth, Billy Swayney, Dennis Merrill and Mark Nanney. His family will receive friends from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Monday at the funeral home and suggest that memorials be made to Mountain Area Hospice, PO Box 253338, Asheville, NC 28813, or to the Veterans Memorial Stadium Renovation, PO Box 7148, Asheville, NC 28802.