FRANKLIN - Patricia Ann Millikin Salenius McClure, 81, passed away on Monday, Sept. 28, 2020.
She was a native of Weldon, North Carolina and the daughter of the late Almond Millikin and Jane Gregory Millikin. She is survived by her husband, Sam McClure; two sons, Howard George Salenius Jr. “Skip” of Antioch, Tennessee; and Charles August Salenius, II “Chad” of Atlanta; one grandson, Maxwell Prince Salenius of Antioch, Tennessee; two nieces; three nephews; three great-nieces; and four great-nephews.
McClure was a two-year business major and held a B.S. degree in primary education from East Carolina University, where she received the first “Outstanding Educator Alumni Award” in 1986. She was Macon County’s Teacher of the Year as well as District 9 Teacher of the Year in 1982. McClure was named “Personality of the South” and “Outstanding Woman of the World” while teaching in Spartanburg, South Carolina in 1976. She served as the grand marshal in Franklin’s Christmas parade in December 1991 and also received the “Woman of the Year” award presented by the Business and Professional Women’s Club of Franklin in 1992. In 2018, McClure was awarded the Duke Energy Citizenship and Service Award.
“Ms. Patti,” as she was affectionately called by her friends and students, was very active in her church and community ,and she dearly loved people. She taught 28 years in the public-school systems in both North and South Carolina, spending her last 14 years teaching in Franklin until heart problems forced her to retire. She was a member of First United Methodist Church in Franklin, where she taught Sunday school, was a youth director and delighted in doing the “Moments of Children” for many years. She was a member of the Retired Teacher’s Association. Ms. Patti also thoroughly enjoyed working on fundraisers for many good causes.
After retiring from teaching and having a heart transplant, Ms. Patti spent a great deal of time volunteering at the schools, nursing homes, churches and hospitals. She also attended the Transplant Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1996, where she won four gold medals running, race walking, 50-yard free style and 50-yard breaststroke in swimming. She devoted much of her time to “walking and talking” and telling her “heartwarming” stories to all ages for all occasions. In 2010, Ms. Patti wrote a book entitled With Every Beat of My Heart. The book was composed of two sections. The first section was a short autobiography of Patti, and the second was filled with poems about her friends, acquaintances and events that inspired Patti to write her book.
Ms. Patti was a wife, mother, grandmother, poet and
storyteller who loved her husband and family and her pet, “Lucy Belle” unconditionally. She certainly lived her life to the fullest and she NEVER left home without her “Sense of Humor!”
Funeral services were held Saturday, Oct. 3 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Burial was in the Woodlawn Cemetery. The Revs. David Beam, Tracy Tallent and Margaret Freeman officiated.
The family received friends prior to the service at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts. Pallbearers were Steve Millikin, Ryan Raby, Scotty Corbin, Lee Elks, David Kilgore, Ben Henson and Joe Chavis. Honorary pallbearers were Jason Arnold, David Parlier and Lyle Jones.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Hospice House Foundation of WNC, PO Box 815, Franklin, NC 28744 or Kids Place, PO Box 693, Franklin, NC 28744.
Macon Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.
Condolences can be made at maconfuneralhome.com.