FRANKLIN – Pauline (Polly) Keener Kirkland, 88, passed away Sunday Nov. 29, 2020.
Born in Cullasaja, North Carolina, just outside of Franklin, Polly was the sixth of eight children of the late John H. Keener Sr. and Dana Keener of Brevard.
Polly’s husband of 68 years, Fred, passed away on March 14, 2020. She was also preceded in death by her brothers, John Jr. and Harold; sisters, Dana, Hazel and Viola; and nephew Steve.
Polly is survived by her 99-year-old sister Carolyn; brother Eugene; three sons, Jack and his wife Cathy of Huntersville, North Carolina, Mike and his wife Carolyn of Westfield New Jersey, and Tim and his wife Terri of Asheboro North Carolina; six grandchildren, Eric Kirkland and his wife Rachelle, Mandy Kirkland Underwood and her husband Kevin, Michael Kirkland Jr, John Kirkland, Logan Kirkland and Gracie Kirkland; and nine great-grandchildren, Jackson Kirkland, Jackson Underwood, Joshua Kirkland, Tim Underwood, Abby Underwood, Ryan Kirkland, Catherine Underwood, Charlotte Underwood and Benjamin Underwood. With seven brothers and sisters, Polly is also survived by several nieces and nephews. Let’s see, there’s Sandra, Susan, Johnny, Larue, David, Carol, Hal, Roger, Ashley and Justin.
Born on Feb. 24, 1932 in the depths of the Great Depression, Polly lived in the Franklin area through her junior year at Franklin High. The family then moved to Brevard, where Polly finished her senior year at Brevard High in 1950.
After high school, Polly lived with her sister Dana in Aiken, South Carolina and worked in the local nuclear power industry as an administrator and typist, a common path at that time for young ladies not going on to college. Little did she know it then, but her brother Harold was attending classes at Western Carolina with a mountain kid named Freddie Kirkland. After some subtle maneuvering of Harold, Freddie managed to get an introduction to Polly on one of her visits back to Brevard. Things went pretty quickly (for the ’50s) from there.
Then the Korean War broke out, and both Polly’s brother Harold and Freddie volunteered for the Navy. Before shipping off to basic training, Freddie popped the question. Upon completion of basic training, Freddie returned home and they were married. Soon thereafter they were off to San Diego, California, where Freddie was sent to Navy schools. Their truly “Wonderful Life” had begun.
Polly’s first son, Jack, was born in 1953 while Fred was on his second tour off the coast of North Korea. Polly crossed the country on her own twice while Fred was on three overseas tours. After the war, Polly and Fred moved to Opelika, Alabama where Fred studied Electrical Engineering at Auburn and Polly took care of everything else on a shoestring VA budget. Oh yeah, that’s where the number two son, Mike, came along in 1955.
After college, Polly and Fred moved to Winston-Salem, where Fred went to work for Western Electric and Polly resumed the role of running everything at home, but now with a bit better budget. Oh yeah, that’s where the number three son, Tim, came along in 1960.
They lived in Winston and Greensboro through about 1976 while Fred worked at Bell Laboratories.
Then they began the biggest and most thrilling journey when the moved to New Jersey while Fred worked at AT&T Long Lines. This period was filled with travels all over the world as Fred worked on various undersea cable projects. To England, to Greece, to Egypt, to Taiwan to the Caribbean and to other exotic spots they traveled. This is where Polly, already an accomplished seamstress, began to develop her extraordinary cullinary skills. By the time Fred retired in 1987 they had filled two passports and Polly was an accomplished chef. Lucky Fred had his own personal chef for life.
After retirement, Polly and Fred tried chasing their children around the country, but gave up on that fruitless plan and moved for the last time in 1994 to Franklin, where Polly was born and grew up. This final move was actually to Franklin’s Patton Valley, but Polly always looked at it as moving home. Very early on they became involved in the Friends of the Library, and then they joined Patton UMC and began 26 years of involvement with their new, and their last, church family. While Fred was involved multiple gospel/bluegrass/folk bands, Polly involved herself with her cooking and gardening. Polly said many times that their home in Patton Valley was her and Fred’s “little piece of paradise on earth”.
James Funeral Home of Huntersville is serving the Kirkland family and can be contacted at 704-948-9004 or at JamesFuneralHomeLKN.com.
Polly will be buried on the grounds of Patton UMC. A celebration of Polly’s life will be held there in the near future.
In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made in Polly’s memory to either her church, Patton UMC, or to Hospice & Palliative Care Lake Norman, who provided loving care through her final days.