Frances Virginia Lane Bradley Poole passed away on May 14, 2022, at English Meadows in Abingdon, Va.
She was born in Whigham, Ga., on Oct. 3, 1927 to William Claude Lane, Sr., and Loris Gregory Lane, who preceded her in death. She was also predeceased by her first husband, James Phillips Bradley, Sr.; a daughter, Frances Lane Canada (Roanoke); her brother, William Claude Lane, Jr. (Whigham, Ga.), and her second husband, Donald Dunn Poole.
She is survived by her sister, Ann Lane Wright (Brunswick, Ga.) and her children, James Phillips Bradley, Jr. and wife, Shaye, (Mobile, Ala.), Laree Bradley Hinshelwood and husband, Jack, (Abingdon, Va.), Loris Ann Bradley (Richmond), Robert Howell Bradley III and wife, Danielle (Largo, Fla.) and a son-in-law, Jerry Canada (Roanoke).
She is also survived by nine grandchildren, Benjamin Canada (Raleigh, N.C.), Jennie Canada Weeks (Salem), Bradley Hinshelwood (Silver Spring, Md.), Holly Hinshelwood (Winston-Salem, N.C.), Sarah Hinshelwood (Cambridge, Mass.), J.P. Bradley (Seattle, Wash.), Jeffrey Bradley (Clearwater, Fla.), Julia Bradley (Orlando, Fla.) and Diluca Bradley (Largo, Fla.). Fran was also blessed with six great-grandchildren, Casey and Carson Weeks (Salem), Tucker and Blythe Canada (Raleigh, N.C.) and Miles and Sylvia Hinshelwood (Silver Spring, Md.).
Frances received a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Georgia State College for Women and taught business subjects while putting her first husband through the University of Georgia after he returned from serving in the US Navy. In 1978 she returned to college and obtained a master’s degree in library science from Dominican University in Lake Forest, Ill..
She was employed by libraries in River Forest, Ill., Oak Park, Ill., and Blacksburg (Gilbert Linkous Elementary), and was a medical librarian for the U.S. Veterans Administration in hospitals in Salem, Va., Chicago, Ill., and Washington, D.C. She and her second husband, Donald, worked tirelessly for their community of Shawsville by helping to obtain a library for the area while serving on the board of the Friends of the Library.
They were also instrumental in starting the Meadowbrook Museum where she served as chairman specializing in the history of Eastern Montgomery County, Va., writing interviews of seniors, and archiving their oral histories of the area. While operating the museum, they published three books on the families and history of the area.
Frances was a lifetime member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in Washington, D.C. Funeral services and interment were held in the Southwest Virginia Veterans Cemetery in Dublin on Wednesday, May 18, 2022. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made in her memory to the Meadowbrook Museum, 267 Alleghany Spring Rd., Shawsville, VA 24162.
