Obituaries » Beatrice Frye Bennett
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January 3, 2020
Burial Date January 11, 2020
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Mrs. Beatrice Frye Bennett, 88, of Charlotte,NC passed away Friday, January 3,2020 at Brookdale Carriage Club Providence Charlotte,NC.Funeral service will be held Saturday,January 11,2020 at the Greater Gethsemane AME Zion Church 531 Campus St. Charlotte,NC 28216.Visitation will begin at 11:00 am and the service will follow at 12:00 pm. Interment will be in the Sunset Memory Gardens 8901 Lawyers Rd. Charlotte,NC 28227.
On April 1, 1931 – springtime in Pee Dee, North Carolina – the Frye family was blessed with yet another baby. This child – BEATRICE – the youngest of nine – was born to Ida Barrett Frye and Allen Walter Frye. Mom grew up in a time that was impacted by the politics and economics of the great depression as well as by the demands and expectations of the local community. She was not only influenced by agriculture in this small farming community in rural Anson County but also by spiritual and entrepreneurial components as well. Her parents – a local minister in the A. M. E. Zion Church and a business woman who owned and managed a convenience store critical to the community – were pillars of the community. They were challenged to maintain a “proper presence” while earning a living and raising a large, diverse family of six girls and three boys – each with his/her own personality type and bent in life. With a twenty-year age span between the oldest and youngest children, there were few dull moments in the Frye household.
Mom attended local Anson County schools, graduated from Livingstone College with a Bachelor’s degree in Education and from the former A&T State College with a Master’s degree in Education. These degrees prepared her to excel in teaching various high school social studies classes in both North and South Carolina. Years later, she studied in Montreal, Quebec (Canada) to complete coursework for advanced studies and educational certification. Our family moved to Charlotte in 1969 after having lived in Salisbury for ten years. Mom and Dad both taught in local schools and excelled in challenging their students. They both retired from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools during the decade of the 1980s.
Mom loved many things – travelling, writing and public speaking. She loved creating floral arrangements and decorating with flowers. In fact, it was typical to walk through the house and see decorative floral arrangements in each room – including the bathrooms. She was, however, fanatical about outdoor yard and gardening activities. Until the local deer population ended her gardening rituals, she planted huge gardens full of various vegetables that showed up on the dinner table beginning in mid-June and lasting well into the latter months of the year. She was also masterful in coordinating flowers, herbs, and shrubbery to create a year-round landscape of colorful splendor and beauty.
From her youth, Mom learned to serve and honor God in the A.M.E. Zion church. Whether she served at Womble Chapel Church in Pee Dee in whatever capacity was needed, or Moore’s Chapel in Salisbury as a Sunday School teacher, or Greater Gethsemane in Charlotte as Deaconess, Class Leader and Sunday School Teacher, she served with all her might. She was enthusiastic, motivational and driven as she carried out her various roles.
Mom’s network of organizational friends and associates was important to her. She loved her sisters in Alpha Lambda Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. She pledged while at Livingstone College and remained an active member for years. She especially loved her masonic affiliations and the roles she served through the years. Forty-two years ago, she was initiated into Deborah Chapter #424 Order of the Eastern Star and remained a devoted member of this organization for years. During her years of service to the community, she served in a number of roles. Among them were:
Mom loved her children – Cynthia, Jimmy (James Jr.) and Broderick – and raised all three of us to adulthood. Sadly, Broderick preceded her in death in 2001. It was a terrible blow for her and she never quite recovered from his untimely demise. When we were young, she loved to brag on us and our accomplishments. She was extremely goal oriented and expected – even insisted – that we excel at whatever we did. Sometimes that worked; sometimes it did not. She was not so much the nurturer as the drill sergeant barking out orders. She saw in her head the outcomes she wanted for us in life and would indicate the paths she felt we follow to get there. When we did, all was well; when we did not, well . . . Dad often had to step in to “clarify expectations”. While he was not one to “spare the rod”, he often had to “redirect” her energy and rescue us in the process. They were a wonderful team – a combination of unbridled energy tempered by abundant reason and compassion.
Mom mellowed as she continued to age and turned her attention from us to her six grandchildren – Jamie, Keith, John, Danielle, Gina and RJ. How she loved to talk about them – to everyone!! You know the type – the shameless woman in the TV commercial who bored everyone to tears when she showcased the latest pictures, described the latest achievements or insisted that she had the best grandchildren in the world! Sadly, she missed their adult lives, never got to know the spouses who married two of her grandchildren, and never experienced the joy of being a great grandmother to the four babies who would certainly have energized her life. About 20 years ago, she began her struggle with Alzheimer’s and progressively declined through the years.
The love of her life was her Pee Dee sweetheart – James Bennett. Their formative years together made it possible for Mom and Dad to get to know each other – their personalities, families, likes, dislikes and especially the quirky things that “make” and “break” relationships. They had plenty of time to learn each other’s habits, preferences and priorities. By the time they were married, their interests, hobbies and habits seemed so similar that they often appeared as “two peas in a pod.” Their marriage of 65 years ended in December 2018 when Dad preceded her in death.
There are many who are left to cherish her memory: her children, their spouses, her grandchildren, a number of nieces, nephews and cousins. There are also many friends from various organizations and walks of life with whom she bonded through the years. As they continue to recall their interactions with her, their hearts are saddened as well.
