Nancy Franklin

Nancy Ann Dillard Franklin, 73, died at home in Mt. Calm on March 1, 2011. Services will be held at First Baptist Church in Mexia on March 4, 2011 at 2 p.m. with Cameron Simmons officiating. Interment will be in the Mexia Cemetery. The family will receive visitors from 4-7 p.m., Thursday at the Dillard Home at 806 S. Ross, Mexia. She was born October 31, 1937, in Mexia, the daughter of Raymond and Genevieve Hughes Dillard. She was the granddaughter of Col. J. K. and Annie McGrail Hughes of Mexia and of William Moses and Nancy Eliza Stanford Dillard. She graduated from Mexia High School and attended Baylor University, where she was a member of Alpha Omega, later Pi Beta Phi sorority. After receiving a bachelor's degree from Baylor, she attended Southern Methodist University where she earned a master's degree. In 1961, she married her high school sweetheart, Johnny Franklin. They became the parents of two daughters. She was proud of her part in founding the Mount Calm Public Library, which was established in 1977. For 34 years, she was the director of the library, and as a member of Texas Library Association, was selected as the first "Small Community Librarian of the Year" by the Small Community Libraries Round Table of TLA. She served on the Mount Calm ISD School Board for three terms, during which she was president of the board. She was also active in the Mount Calm Study Club, serving as an officer in various capacities. She was also a member of the Hill County Historical Commission. As an enthusiastic member of the Sterling C. Robertson Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, she held various offices. An avid genealogist, she spent many hours tracing her family history. She was the author of several articles in various genealogical journals, the compiler and editor of a book on Mount Calm history, and the author of a book about her great-grandfather Moses Hughes. She is a member of the Baylor Alumni Association, which recognized her Dillard family as a "First Family of Baylor". She was predeceased by her parents and her husband. She is survived by daughters, Kathleen Franklin of Mount Calm and Elizabeth Simmons and husband, Cameron Simmons of Clear Lake; two grandsons, Jacob and Benjamin Simmons of Clear Lake; a brother, Hughes Dillard of Mexia. Memorials may be made to the Mount Calm Public Library, the Baylor Alumni Association, Raymond L. and Genevieve Hughes Dillard Endowed Scholarship at UMHB or the hospice organization of your choice.