Windsor – Beatrice Isabella Newsome "Bea" Whitley, 91, widow of John Otis Whitley and a former longtime resident of Franklin, died December 16, 2007. Born in Isle of Wight County on February 16, 1916, to the late Thomas Eley and Ida Beatrice West Newsome, she was a 1934 graduate of Holland High School and a 1941 graduate of Norfolk College of Business. Bea, who with her late husband, Otis, owned the Meadowbrook Mart in Franklin for 40 years, is fondly remembered as the "penny candy lady." If you had no "penny" to spend, many times you got the candy anyway. Bea was active in the High Street United Methodist Church where she taught Sunday School and worked in the nursery. She was president of the ladies class and a member of "The Oldies But Goodies" Red Hat Society. Bea and her family loved to travel and they drove cross county several times, eventually visiting 48 states. Bea moved to Windsor where she remained independent and was very proud of her lawn and flowers. When her health failed, she moved in with her sister, Jane Ellis, of Windsor.
Left to cherish her memory are her daughters, Sandra W. Boothe and husband, Charles, of Windsor, Jackie W. Green and husband, David, of Franklin; two grandsons, John W. Boothe of Windsor and Andy Green of Franklin; two sisters,
Peggy N. Powers of Lansing, Mi., and Jane N. Ellis of Windsor; three sisters-in-law, Julia B. Newsome of Colonial Heights, Laura B. Newsome of Suffolk and Mamie S. Whitley of Franklin and many nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews whom she loved dearly. She was predeceased by four sisters, Nellie Newsome Rowell, Edna Newsome Cofield, Sallie Mae Newsome Bittle, Mary Catherine (Doodle Bug) Newsome Babb, and two brothers, Thomas W. Newsome and James E. Newsome.
A funeral will be conducted at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the chapel of Wright Funeral Home, Franklin, with the Rev. Bob Cofield and Rev. Mike Harrington officiating. Interment will follow in Southampton Memorial Park. The family will receive friends from 7 to 8:30 p.m. today at the funeral home and other times at the home of her sister, Jane Ellis, 26206 Woodview Lane, Windsor.