Rebecca Tarpley Follo

Rebecca Tarpley Follo died in her own home in Gadsden on Monday, September 22, after a long illness. She was 89 years old. She was born in Gadsden on November 10, 1918, one day before the end of the First World War, and was the first child of Earnest and Leila Mae Tarpley. She graduated from Gadsden High School and the University of Alabama, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and later taught mathematics at Disque Junior High School for many years. She was married to Dr. Marshall Follo of Gadsden, who, along with her sister Elaine Roberts of Gadsden and her brother Dr. William Tarpley of Birmingham, preceded her in death. She is survived by her children Kirk Follo of Lexington, Virginia, Becky Follo and her husband Tom Bentley of San Francisco, California, Michael Follo and his wife Deb Caughron of Woodberry Forest, Virginia; by her granddaughter Kathryn Bentley of Amherst, Massachusetts; and by her sister Ernestine McColl of Birmingham, Alabama.

Funeral services will be held at the First United Methodist Church of Gadsden at 3:00 on Saturday, September 27. Pallbearers will be Bruce McColl, Mike McColl, Mark McColl, John Simmons, Phil Tarpley, Steve Taylor, and Dee Cordell. Visitation will also be at the church and will begin at 2:00. Burial will be at Forrest Cemetery in Gadsden, with arrangements made by Collier Butler Funeral Home. The family requests that in lieu of flowers donations be made to the Howell Erwin Medical Fund of the First United Methodist Church.

The children wish to thank family and friends for the kindness and love they showed to their mother, Rebecca, as well as the people of Wiregrass Hospice for their good work; but most especially they would like to thank the caregivers who ministered to their mother with such devotion over the years, and who comforted her in her last days.