Frances Rebecca Gaddy Parham

Frances Gaddy Parham passed away quietly in her sleep on January 22, 2019, at Pisgah Manor in Candler. She was 96. Born on November 15, 1922, in Buncombe County, Mrs. Parham was the wife of the late Rev. Milburn H. Parham. She is preceded in death by her parents, Dallas G. Gaddy and Emma H. Gaddy, brothers, Dewey and Mitchell Gaddy, and sisters, Essie Rich, Edna Reid and Wilma O'Bryhim. Mrs. Parham is survived by three sons, Donald Parham (Linda) of Denver, NC, Michael Parham (Susan) of Candler, and Alan Parham (Dottie) of Mills River. She had six grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren, and a number of nieces and nephews. And also a brother, Everett Gaddy of Johnson City, TN. Frances Parham was a member of Grace Baptist Church in West Asheville. A well-known gospel singer, Mrs. Parham sang alto with some of Western North Carolina's most popular quartets in the forties and early fifties. She went on to direct choirs in the six churches her husband pastored. She was a member of Sweet Adelines in Asheville and was a co-founder along with her cousin, Paul McKinney, of The Back Porch Singers that gathered up to 60 area regional singers weekly to sing gospel music in the mid- to late nineties. A service will be held in her honor on Tuesday, January 29, at Liberty Baptist Church in Candler at 3:00 PM. There will be a one hour visitation period at 2:00 preceding the funeral. Internment will occur immediately following the funeral in the family plot at Liberty. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that friends make contributions to Mission Dignity, https://www.missiondignity.org/ in her name. Groce Funeral Home on Patton Avenue is assisting the family.