Frances Gordon Thornton Milton Folkes

FOLKES Frances Gordon Thornton Milton Folkes died Thursday, January 25, 2007 at Westminster Canterbury. She was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia and attended Stuart Hall and Longwood College. Her first husband, the Rev. William Byrd Lee Milton, a pilot in the Royal Air Force, was killed in 1941. In 1945, she married Minetree Folkes, who had been a groomsman in her first wedding. He died in 1959. She had an opinion on just about everything, though she wasn't particular about her brand of bourbon. She described herself as a "yellow dog" Democrat and once told her niece, "all the cells in my body are Democrats." She loved the Episcopal church and her faith was fervent and sustaining. She was active in the Order of St. Luke and a longtime member of St. James's, one of the first women to serve on its vestry. She also belonged to The Woman's Club, The Country Club of Virginia, and the National Society of the Colonial Dames. She is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth Milton Hunnewell; and her adoring son-in-law, Francis Oakes Hunnewell of Wellesley, Massachusetts; three grandchildren, Susannah Hunnewell Weiss and Evelyn Byrd Lee Hunnewell of Paris, France, Francis Oakes Hunnewell Jr. of Washington, D.C.; two nieces, Mary Moylan Thornton Oppenhimer of Richmond and Tabb Thornton Farinholt of Gloucester; and five great-grandchildren. There will be a memorial service at St. James's on Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 11 a.m. Memorial donations can be made to the Virginia Seminary, Barack Obama, or Westminster Canterbury.