Frances Woodard (Lynch) Deans

Frances Woodard Lynch Deans, 93, of Goldsboro went to be with her Lord and Savior Sunday, April 7, 2024 at Brookdale Country Day Road in Goldsboro.

Homegoing service will be held Friday, April 12, 2024 at 11 a.m. in the chapel of Howell Funeral Home & Crematory in Goldsboro. Interment will follow at Wayne Memorial Park in Dudley. The family will receive friends prior to the service from 10 a.m. until 10:45 a.m. at the funeral home.

Frances was a talented and devoted gardener, growing beautiful roses, peonies, iris and azaleas, and maintaining a tidy yard her entire adult life.  For many years she also grew and propagated African violets indoors and was an active member of the Goldsboro African Violet Society.

In the early 1980’s, she became passionate about family history, taking several genealogy classes at Wayne Community College.  In the pre-internet days, she spent weekends and evenings researching courthouse and census records, state and national archives, old cemeteries, and contacting and collecting information and photographs from families in North Carolina, and even traveled to Ireland.  She traced the Lynch family back to Cornelius Lynch, born around 1709 near Cork, Ireland.  He appears on the master book for Colonel Gooch’s Regiment (Crown of England) from January 1740/1741 for His Majesty’s Ship, “Princess Amelia.”  The soldiers were dispatched to various ships and sailed to Maryland.  In March, 1743, Cornelius petitioned for land in Craven County, North Carolina. In 1989 Frances published a 577 page volume:  The Lynches from Ireland to Eastern North Carolina, in the Counties of Craven, Johnson, Hobbs and Wayne.  Family history remained a passion and pursuit for the rest of her life and she continued to research other branches of her family’s history.

Frances was a devoted wife and mother, and loved to cook for family, neighbors and friends, sharing homemade cakes and pies frequently.

Ms. Deans was born on Belfast Road in Wayne County on February 7, 1931 to the late John Samuel and Mary Elizabeth George Lynch. She was a previous member of Clingman Street Church of God since 1950 and later became a charter member of United In Christ Church in Goldsboro. She was past employed with Barry's of Goldsboro and with ReNu Life of Goldsboro.

She is survived by two sons, Jeff Deans and wife, Kim of Wilmington and Timothy "Tim" Deans and wife, Wanda of Goldsboro; one daughter, Mary Elizabeth (Beth) Deans Bass of Charlottesville, Virginia; five grandchildren, Stephanie Snider and husband, Jim, of Charlottesville, VA, Lindsay Deans of Greenville, NC, Matt Deans of Miami, FL, Blair Byrnside and husband, Brendan of Cary, NC, and Nick Deans of Wilmington, NC and three great-grandchildren, Jackson Snider, Mabel Byrnside and Amelia Byrnside. She is also survived by many beloved nieces and nephews.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Kermit Samuel Deans; and eight brothers and three sisters:  Lawrence Lynch (Rachel), Norman Lynch Nellie Howard (Odell), Mildred Herring (Gump), Little Jack Lynch, Ray Lynch, Andrew Lynch, Mary Adelia Casey (Barney), Gene Lynch (Anna Bell), Clyde Lynch (Rose), and Billy Mac Lynch (Jean).

The family is in the care of Howell Funeral Home & Crematory in Goldsboro.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Frances Woodard (Lynch) Deans, please visit our floral store.