Winifred Mae Rhyne

RHYNE, Winifred Mae Kerley, age 93 of Timber Pines, Spring Hill and formerly of Marianna, FL was lost to us on Sunday, June 30, 2013 at Oak Hill Hospital in Brooksville. She was our beautiful mother and grandmother. “Win” was born June 18, 1920 in Schenectady, NY. She graduated from Nott Terrace High School in February, 1938 and then from Mildred Elley Business School in Albany, NY in March of 1939. She was then employed by the General Electric Co. and in 1940 was the secretary to the program direct of GE’s short wave radio stations. In February that same year she was chosen Queen of the Schenectady Winter Carnival and was crowned by Benny Goodman. In 1941 at GE, she met Cecil Rhyne, Jr. who was originally from Marianna. Cecil’s love for Winifred is expressed best in this excerpt from his autobiography of 1994, six years before he died: “She was and is a charmer, with a charm as natural as it is unconscious. From the time that we met, she has been the most important thing in my life.” Winifred & Cecil’s wonderful life together spanned 59 years. They married on January 31, 1942 in Schenectady and in 1946 moved to Marianna, FL with their 2 daughters: Kathy & Carol. A daughter, Mary Julia was born in 1948 but sadly passed away. They completed the family with their 2 boys, Bill & Jim. In Marianna, Cecil & his brother Jeff founded The Rhyne Company to manufacture furniture. The company eventually had a workforce of 350 people. Win joined St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Marianna. In 1949-50, as President of the Junior Women’s Club, she led the Marianna women to win a national civic betterment contest for eradicating hookworm in Jackson County. She then served on the Jackson County Children’s Commission from 1951 to 1961. She attended Chipola Junior College in Marianna intermittently in the sixties, worked as a secretary for the local radion station WTOT and obtained real estate licenses in both Florida & Georgia. She was a strong supporter for women’s rights and worked passionately to bring home the Vietnam Prisoners of War and those Missing in Action. After the Rhyne Co. was sold in 1968, the family moved to Atlanta and eventually to Tallahassee, St. Petersburg and Brooksville, FL. During the summer they enjoyed a mountain home in Pineola, NC. After Cecil died in 2000, Winifred moved to Spring Hill where she lived with her son Jim until she passed away. Winifred instilled in all of her family her love for travel, music, theater & dance. She and Cecil made annual trips to New York to see Broadway musicals and shared their enthusiasm on their return. She will best be remembered accompanying the family musicians on the piano and tap dancing to “Tea for Two” in the family living room on Madison St. Her love for dancing continued through her final years. There was not a dry eye when at 91, she rose from her wheelchair at her granddaughter’s wedding to waltz with her grandson. Winifred was a devoted wife & mother to her four remaining children who survived her: Kathy Rhyne Goodman of Brooksville, FL, Carol Rhyne Whelan of Foster City, CA, Bill Rhyne of Kennesaw, GA & Jim Rhyne of Spring Hill. She was loved dearly by her surviving six grandchildren: Duncan Goodman & Kirsten Conner from CO, Bradford Whelan & Kimberly Hastings from CA, Casey & Kevin Rhyne from GA & great granddaughter, Maggie Goodman for CO. Her brother, William Kerley of Scotia, NY and his family also survive her. The family is planning a memorial in Marianna for both parents at a later date.

Arrangements by

Merritt Funeral Home

Spring Hill Chapel

(352) 686-6649

Family Owned & Operated”

www.merrittfuneral.com