Page 10, AC Phoenix, December 1991
In Memoriam
Moving On To God's Glory And His Eternal Love
By Patricia Smith-Deering
Phoenix Managing Editor
It can be hard to convince the liv
ing that oftentimes the passing of a
loved one is an opportunity to cele
brate life. But, when the person has
touched the lives and families of
many, the legacy that is left lives
on. Frances Rebecca Smith Gilmore
was such a person.
Bom into the union of Ida Bell
Martin Smith and George Henry
Smith, Sr. in 1919, Mrs. Gilmore,
even as she was growing to wom
anhood in her native Danbury,
North Carolina, “aspired for great
ness.” She came to Winston-Salem
when she was approximately 16,
where she lived with an older sister
while attending Atkins High
School. After graduation, she
attended and graduated from
McLean Sten-ographic College.
Her marriage in 1943 to Jerry C.
Gilmore, Jr. was the start of a
union that was fruitful in many
ways. The Gilmores entered the
world of business, first with the
Cherry Street Grocery Store in
1946, then the business that would
become a consuming passion,
Gilmore’s Funeral Home, in 1948.
“She was the first female in this
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area to participate and support her
husband in the funeral profession,”
said Cynthia Gilmore-Douthit, one
of two children born tO the
Gilmore’s. “She started out driving
the hearse and (was a) female fu
neral, attendant”
Self-taught, Mrs. Gilmore served
the funeral home in many capaci
ties, including hair designer, cos
metologist, bookkeeper, and
arranging funeral services. The
couple’s enterprise grew to include
Gilmore’s Rental Properties and
Gilmore’s Investments.
Even more important than the
business were the children who be
came involved in one of the city’s
leading Black businesses; daughter
Cynthia and son, Jerry C. Gilmore,
III. “We were brought up in the
business,” said Cynthia, reflecting
on her memories of her mother. She
recalled the death of her father in
August, 1989, and how the in
domitable spirit of her mother was
so strongly evident.
“When Daddy passed, we came
back here (to the funeral home), and
she sat here and worked,” Cynthia
said. Refusing to take time away,
her mother did what she knew
Continued on Page 21
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