Former Falls Church resident Nellie I. Carns Gramling, 101, died Monday, January 7 at the Mt. Laurel Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Clearfield, Pa.
Born August 16, 1906 in Clearfield, she was the daughter of John Wesley and Grace Matilda (Young) Carns.
Mrs. Gramling taught in a one-room schoolhouse in Clearfield and helped start Meals on Wheels in Virginia. She was part of the Red Cross Motor Service during World War II in Johnstown and had also volunteered with the Salvation Army in Falls Church, Va. She retired from the Fairfax County Virginia public school system at age 77.
Mrs. Gramling was a charter member of Sleepy Hollow United Methodist Church in Fall Church, where she was a member of the United Methodist Women. She had attended the Mt. Joy United Methodist Church in Clearfield, Mt. Hope United Methodist Church is South Fork, Pa. and Simpsonville United Methodist Church in Simpsonville, Ky.
She is survived by three children: Ronald C. Gramling and his wife Marlene of Frenchville, Pa., Audrey L. Gramling-Hiner of Catlett, Va. And Wilda M. Woodyard and her husband Robert of Simpsonville, Ky.; ten grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and 17 great-great-grandchildren. Also surviving are two sisters, Nina Johnson of Frenchville and Marcia Bechtold of Bigler, Pa. and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband F. Nelson Gramling, whom she married August 6, 1927 and who died July 8, 1967; a son, Wesley A. Gramling; a son-in-law, Richard Roy Hiner, Sr.; six brothers: Joseph, Charles, John, Bernard, Calvin and Richard Carns and a sister, Betty Gormont.
Funeral services will be held on Thursday, January 10 at 10 a.m. at the Mt. Joy United Methodist Church with Rev. Kenneth Leonard officiating.
Funeral services in Virginia will be held on Saturday, January 12 at 9 a.m. at Murphy’s Falls Church Funeral Home. Interment will be held in National Memorial Park (King David Memorial Gardens) in Falls Church.
Friends will be received at Murphy’s Falls Church Funeral Home on Friday from 7 – 8 p.m.
The family suggests that contributions be made to the Charity of donor’s choice.
To send an on-line tribute go to mem.com.
