Mrs. Joyce Faye Franklin, widow of Norman King Franklin, Sr. and formerly of Nortonville, Ky., died at age 83 in Franklin, Tenn., on November 2, 2026.
Faye died with family holding her hand in a room filled with a lifetime of photographs of those who had loved her most—a dashing image of her then-young husband in military dress, her children’s school photos, her parents’ romantic World War II era portrait, images from family weddings, and so many of her grandchildren—along with her own babies’ framed coming-home outfits, shelves of her cookbooks and a family Bible, a prized “Kentucky Homemaker” print, her city council member name plate, a teddy bear given to her by Gene Autry when she was a little girl, and a favorite dachshund-themed throw blanket. In many ways, the contents of that room summed up much of her life. Faye was born in the midst of the Second World War on December 30, 1942, in Madisonville, Ky., to Mr. and Mrs. William H. Barnett, Sr. Her mother, the former Mary Elizabeth Stone, announced the birth to Faye’s father—then stationed away from home for the War—via a New Year’s Eve Western Union telegram: “The baby was born last night. It’s a girl. We are doing fine.” Two brothers, James Ray and William Jr., followed in short order. After the War, the family lived together in Madisonville, where Faye attended school.
When she was just eight, her father—by then a talented furniture maker—was killed in an automobile accident. Several years later, Faye’s mother married John B. Kiscaden, a widower who brought his own two children with him—James Earl and Elaine. That marriage produced Faye’s baby sister, Yvonne.
As the eldest of the six children in a blended family, Faye was the ringleader. The good-hearted, reserved, and fun girl was already looking after those she loved. She corralled her siblings as they took in double features on most every Saturday—coming home to Ferrell’s hamburgers afterwards as a treat.
In school, Faye was bright and took a particular interest in home economics. She introduced her family to then-exotic recipes like spaghetti and goulash, and she became quite the baker. Her education served her well, as she was thereafter known for her homemade banana puddings and cakes of seemingly endless varieties (including strawberry, carrot, prune, and her most-famous—red velvet). She sewed her lovely prom dresses by hand, the favorite in her preferred shade of blue.
She graduated from Madisonville High School in 1960 and started nursing at the local hospital afterwards.
On November 15, 1962, Faye married Norman King Franklin, Sr. When he picked her up at her mother’s home for the ceremony, she wore a stylish beige suit and pillbox hat. They set off on a colorful adventure that lasted until his death nearly 50 years later. Like Faye’s father and stepfather, Normie was a military man. So, the couple spent the first decade of their marriage away from Kentucky in the service.
Their eldest daughter, Joannie, was born in Georgia in 1964, and their only son, Frankie, was born in Neu Ulm, Germany, in 1967. While they lived in Germany, Faye loved exploring old churches and castles (Mad King Ludwig’s were her favorites), and she was known to have danced on top of at least one Biergarten table. She was active in the NCO Wives Club, and her cupboards contained engraved silver nut bowls and mint trays recognizing her service. Faye spent many nervous months during Normie’s tour of duty in Vietnam.
By the time they all returned to Kentucky for good, they had made lots of quirky friends, and Faye had collected up some new recipes and quite a bit of German memorabilia. When they arrived home in the early 1970s, they settled into their small house on Dogwood Lane in Nortonville, which was expanded repeatedly over the 50 years Faye lived there.
She and Normie welcomed the baby of the family, Susan, in Madisonville in 1974. More than anything, Faye was a devoted mother, traveling to every cheerleading competition, ballgame, academic event, and ceremony possible.
She and her husband valued education immensely and attended all the kindergarten, grade school, high school, college, law school, and medical school graduations they could. She was proud as punch of her kids and her grandkids. In addition to bringing up their family, she and her husband owned and operated Franklin’s Supermarket in Nortonville until it burned in the late 1970s. In that instance, Faye’s even temperament was a real asset. Not one to get too excited over much (good or bad), she would say in her matter-of-fact way, “Sometimes, things just don’t work out.”
Amid the busy years of rearing their children in the 1970s, she and some friends founded the South Hopkins Homemakers Club. She loved taking homemaker “lessons” at the County extension office, hosting luncheons, and taking trips with her friends to go shopping or to Lake Barkley where she and Normie owned a lake house for many years. She was a devoted member of the Club until the very end.
She was also an active fixture in her community, serving both on Nortonville’s City Council and on the Hopkins County Planning Commission for lengthy periods. In fact, the citizens of Nortonville have Faye to thank for their current addresses. It was on her initiative that Nortonville adopted its street names. And she picked the names she thought were prettiest for her own neighborhood.
In her later years, Faye relished being a grandmother. When her oldest grandchild was born, her jokester husband assigned her the one grandmother name she said she did not prefer. In companion to his choice of Poppi, a Moppi was born. It could not have been more perfect. Her seven grandchildren adored her. With them, she was soft, cuddly, snuggly, joyous, encouraging, and easygoing—although she occasionally did have what was dubbed a “Moppi fit.” On the morning of the day Moppi died, her youngest granddaughter described her in three words: “sweet, fun, and confident.” Moppi brought so much to their lives, which they returned to hers in equal measure.
In the end, she loved her family and friends; she loved God and Country; she loved redheads; she loved dachshunds (especially her Odie); she loved memories of bingo with her own Moma and Papaw John’s fried potatoes; she loved all of those happy times over many decades with the “lake crew” on Lake Barkley; she loved a man in uniform (as she emphasized in a speech given at her eldest granddaughter’s wedding to a military man); she loved collecting raccoon figurines; she loved Elvis, Conway Twitty, George Jones, Mickey Gilley and all things Classic Country (in the words of K.T. Oslin, she was one of the “’80s Ladies”); she loved shopping—be it Kohl’s, QVC, Quacker Factory, or Mrs. Prindable’s apples; she loved celebrating Christmas with a passion—from the reason for the season Himself to Thomas Pacconi ornaments, Fitz and Floyd knick-knackery, Elvis’ Blue Christmas, and hosting enormous Christmas dinners almost always served up late; she loved her home and being a Kentucky Colonel; and she loved a Dairy Queen hot fudge sundae.
Faye lived her quiet and steadfast faith by example. She attended Sunday school from an early age at the Second Baptist Church on Woodson Street across from her childhood home. She honored the Golden Rule, treating others as we all would like to be treated—with kindness and respect.
In recent years, Faye sold the family home in Nortonville and moved to Franklin to be closer to her daughters. When she walked through her old home for the last time, she said, “Well, this was a really good house. We raised three really good kids here. We had a lot of good times here. And some bad ones.” That was Faye.
She lived independently for a time in Franklin and later transitioned into memory care at Vitality Living Franklin where, true to form, she remained good-natured. As evidenced by the staff lining up to say farewell to her when she died, she was loved and admired there just as she had been wherever she went in her life.
Faye was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, her stepfather, and all of her siblings except for her youngest sister.
She is survived by her eldest daughter, Joannie Franklin of Franklin, Tenn., her son and daughter-in-law, Jill and Norman Franklin, Jr. of Nortonville, Ky., her youngest daughter and son-in-law, Susan and Joshua Denton of Franklin, Tenn.; her grandchildren: Norman “Trey” Franklin III (Kacie) of Lake City, Fla., Travis Franklin (Olivia) of Prospect, Ky., Morgan Duncan (Jacob) of Clermont, Ga., Mary Elizabeth Clemons (Jack) of Franklin, Tenn., Cooper King of Franklin, Tenn., John Denton of Franklin, Tenn., and Vivian Denton, at home; two great-granddaughters, Spencer Duncan and Clara Duncan, both at home; her sister, Yvonne Bourland (Mike) of Madisonville, Ky.; and a host of extended family and friends.
Faye’s funeral will take place at 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 7, at Barnett-Strother Funeral Home in Madisonville, with her brother-in-law, Rev. Michael Bourland, officiating.
Her family will receive visitors at the funeral home from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, November 6, and from noon until the funeral service on Saturday.
Following the funeral, she will be buried next to her husband in Good Hope Cemetery in Mannington.
Pallbearers will be Travis Franklin, Cooper King, John Denton, Jacob Duncan, Jack Clemons, Jedidiah Tyson, William Barnett III, and Michael Barnett. Honorary pallbearers will be the members of the South Hopkins Homemakers Club.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project.
Faye absolutely dreaded going to funerals. So, if you are like-minded, she would readily excuse your attendance and suggest you go eat a hot fudge sundae instead. To honor Faye, her family asks that you live your life to the fullest and show kindness to someone in need.
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