Frances Henley Woodruff DuBose

Frances Henley Woodruff DuBose, known to her friends as “Duffie”, passed away on Feb. 24, 2015 just 3 months shy of her 96th birthday. She was born in Columbus GA on May 29, 1919 to Frances Henley Woodruff of Athens GA and Harry Earnest Woodruff who gained the nick name “Kid” while playing football for the University of GA on the team of 1903. She spent her youth in Columbus where her love of horses made her an accomplished equestrian. She attended Gulf Park College in Biloxi MS, completing her studies in 1938.

She met her future husband, Beverly Means DuBose Jr. of Atlanta while on a house party with her friends in Atlantic Beach FL in 1938. They were married in Columbus, Georgia on June the 14th 1939. They began their life together in Atlanta at 2737 Peachtree Road and Beverly began his career in property and casualty insurance at DuBose–Egleston Insurance Company. She immediately immersed herself in her new life in Atlanta, volunteering at Egleston Hospital for Children where she felt a great attachment, not only because of the patients it treated but it was created by the gift of Thomas Egleston who was her Father-in-law’s, Beverly M. DuBose Sr., first cousin and business partner. She also joined the Iris Garden Club and the Atlanta Junior League.

During World War II Beverly was commissioned an Ensign in the Navy in the spring of 1943 which took them to duty stations in Brunswick, Maine and Quonset Point, Rhode Island, returning to Atlanta late in 1945 as Beverly was on the commissioning crew of the new aircraft carrier USS Roosevelt.

In the spring of 1946 upon the discharge of Beverly from active duty, they moved back to Atlanta. With the unexpected sale of the large family home on Peachtree by Beverly DuBose Sr., her Father in Law, Duffie and her husband built their home on the Chattahoochee River on property they had purchased from former Governor John Slaton in 1940, shortly after their marriage. This has been their home ever since. The location of her new home gave her the opportunity to once again pursue her love of horses by teaching riding at Fritz Orr (Westminster School) and taking the students on trail rides on her property by the river,

In addition to raising her two children, she found time to be an active member of the Forward Arts Foundation, Ceramic Circle of Atlanta, Colonial Dames of America, The History Class, and the Women’s Auxiliary of Egleston Children Hospital where she ran the gift shop. She was also on the board and chairman of Historic Westville for which she received in 2011 The Life Time Achievement Award of the GA Association of Museums and Galleries. In addition, she was also a Trustee Emeritus of The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.

Duffie and Beverly made a wonderful couple always supporting each other in their various interest and hobbies. They both loved to travel which they did extensively to six of the seven continents. They made their first trip to Europe as a couple in1949. Skiing together in Colorado with their many friends was an annual event lasting at least two weeks.

While cooking was not her forte, entertaining was and many a night the table was set in great splendor to entertain Beverly’s many business associates and clients. Even Duffie would become a little nervous when the guest of the evening would include the presidents of both Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines.

Duffie may not have been a golf widow but she surely became a widow of The American Civil War, figuratively speaking. Beginning in the fall of 1946, Beverly became the first person to start walking Civil War battlefields with a metal detector which he had seen in the Navy. This hobby took a tremendous amount of time but Beverly always had Duffie’s support. She even allowed him to build six rooms in the basement to house what would become the largest collection of Civil War artifacts in private hands.

With the death of her husband, Beverly, in 1986, she picked up his role as a supporter of the Atlanta History Center completing the gift of the collection to that institution which took five years. Additionally, she provided funds to ensure the display of the collection as an award winning exhibit entitled “Turning Point”. The gift of that collection forever changed the Atlanta History Center, putting it on the successful path it is enjoying today.

She created the Frances and Beverly DuBose Foundation which over the past 20 years has been a supporter of educational and historic preservation efforts throughout the state. Duffie was always a graceful and charming lady. She spoke with a soft voice which still carried purpose and resolve. She was a firm believer of the statement. “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit”. She will be missed by all who knew and loved her and will definitely leave a void that will never be filled.

She is survived by her two children, Beverly (Bo) DuBose III ( Eileen), Dean DuBose Smith (Bronnie), and seven grandchildren, Elizabeth Egleston DuBose (Mark Frissell), Jefferson Denman Box DuBose, Beverly M. DuBose IV, Frances Woodruff Lewis (Randal Morris) Thomas Edward Lewis Jr., Bronson DuBose Smith, Lindsay Smith Bays (Brad) and five great grandchildren, Selden DuBose Frissell, Eliza Porcher DuBose, Harper Dean Morris , Orson Taelor Morris and Emory Frances Morris.

A funeral service will be held on Friday, February 27, 2015 at the Cathedral of St. Philip, 2744 Peachtree Road at 11 o'clock. There will be a reception afterwards in the Cathedral Hall of Bishops. A family graveside service will follow at Westview Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to:

The Atlanta History Center

130 West Paces Ferry Road

Atlanta GA 30305