Cecelia A Franklin

Obituary Cecelia Anne Franklin, 99, passed away on July 7, 2020 at the residence in Kansas City, MO. Cecelia was born February 10, 1921 in Pleasant Hill, MO to Thomas and Ollie Mae Scott Snead. She was the first born of seven siblings and a cousin. Cecelia attended Douglas Elementary grade school in Pleasant Hill being taught by the same teacher from grades one through eighth and graduated from the Holden High School. In 1938, she challenged herself by taking the GED test and graduated from the Board of Education in Kansas City, MO in 1951 as a Practical Nurse. She continued her nursing education and in 1976 graduated as a Registered Nurse from Penn Valley Community College and UMKC. With her specialty being maternal nursing, both at General Hospital #2 and Truman Medical Center (TMC), she retired from being Head Nurse after 33 years of service. After a brief period of rest, she returned to work and served as Head Nurse both at General Baptist Nursing Home in Blue Springs, MO and Monterey Park Nursing Home in Independence, MO. Cecelia’s special interest included roller skating (where she met her first husband, Leo Leslie Buckner and the father of her only precious daughter, Terri), sewing and making most of her clothes, making her infamous homemade potato rolls, working fill-in puzzles, computer games, crocheting, making ceramic dolls, coloring, and traveling across the entire United States. She was an avid Kansas City Royals fan and attended her first game at Royals Stadium in 2016. Giving her life to Christ at an early age, she joined the Second Baptist Church in Pleasant Hill, MO. Continuing her walk with the Lord and moving to Kansas City, MO., she became an active member of the Morning Star Baptist Church under the pastorate of Rev. A. B. Simmons serving as an usher and on the hostess and welcoming committee. It is there where she met her 2nd husband Christley Franklin. In 1985, she became an active member of Progressive Baptist Church under the then leadership of Rev. Hudson. She continued her service for the Lord, she served as Assistant Director of Christian Education, usher, Dean and Sunday school teacher, Baptist Training Union (BTU) Director, and a faithful member of the Women’s Missionary Union (WMU) and the Dorcas and Hannah Circles. Cecelia kept busy with outside activities serving as New Era District Dean, Church Women United (CWU), Vice-President of State CWU nominating Chairman, WMU key person for CWU and other auxiliaries. She volunteered as a tutor for AmeriCorps Communities in Schools Program that aimed to build relationships to empower at-risk students to stay in school, perform well at school and become good achievers academically and in life. She participated in the Communities in School Program at the Woodland Early Learning Community School, Attucks Elementary School, and George Melcher Elementary School. She also worked for the Kansas City Election Board and was the state treasurer for the Woman’s Auxiliary. Cecelia’s accolades included the Valiant Women Award from CWU, years of service award from TMC and outstanding Regional Dean Award from the National Congress of Christian Education. Believing that a mind was a terrible thing to waste, she attended and completed studies in her church, the New Era District, Missionary State Congress, National Congress of Education and Conventions, and received a diploma from the Certificate of Progress Program (COPP). In 2015, she became a self-published author My Story of Precious Memories telling the story about her life, the legacy of the Snead family, and her journey of beautiful highlights and influences in her life. Being the matriarch, she took pride in her family, her daughter, granddaughter, and great grandson and was a true soldier and warrior for the Lord. Cecelia was preceded in death by her parents, Thomas and Ollie Snead, brothers Winford Snead, Roy Snead, and Wayman Snead; sisters Leota Armstrong, Marquise Guest, DeEtta Gant, and cousin Juanita Edwards. Cecelia Ann Franklin leaves to cherish her memories, one daughter Terri Franklin; one granddaughter Danica Franklin; one great grandson Reece Franklin Martin; one sister Willis Jean Brown; one sister-in-law Gloria Snead; special best friend Linda Lamette; and host of nephews, nieces, grand nephews, grand nieces, other relatives and friends. Funeral Services will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Wednesday, July 15th at Lawrence A. Jones & Sons Linwood Chapel. Visitation 9:00 A.M. Interment Longview Cemetery. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Cecelia A Franklin, please visit our floral store. Read More

Cecelia A Franklin

February 10, 1921 - July 7, 2020