Beatrice Anna (Wilkinson) (Brannock) Abernathy

Beatrice Anna (Wilkinson) (Brannock) Abernathy died peacefully at home on August 23, 2018, surrounded by her five daughters, Deborah Guerdat (Kingsport), Pamela Brannock (Kingsport), Elizabeth Brannock (Mike Mitchell, Hendersonville, TN), Claudia Haselton (Bill, Johnson City) and Christina Brannock (Paris, KY). Bea was born in North Stonington, CT, in 1924. She served as a nurse in her professional life and was a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
She lived her life with daring and passion, as a social activist, a staunch proponent of women's rights, and a supporter of the arts. She was fiercely energetic, a progressive thinker, always curious, with an irrepressible joie de vivre. Bea leaves us to cherish her memory in the hundreds of trees and flowers she has planted, her deep love of books and of the sea, and the echo of her raucous and resounding laughter.
In addition to her daughters, Bea is survived by her ten grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren, as well as her sisters and brothers, Lucille Wilson (Kingsport), Evie Brewer (Danville, VA), Walter Wilkinson (Live Oak, FL) and Everett Wilkinson (St. Petersburg, FL), and many beloved nieces, nephews and friends.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Smoky Mountain Hospice in her name, 106 Ferrell Ave. # 1, Kingsport, TN 37663.