Brantley Claris
Wayne, PA
Bleeka Brantley Claris passed away peacefully at her home in Wayne, Pennsylvania on March 26, 2011 from complications of pulmonary fibrosis.
Brantley was born in Geneva, New York, in 1947, the daughter of John W. "Jack" Claris, Jr., of Buffalo and Cornelia Thompson Claris of Shelby, NC. She grew up in Buffalo and later in Hendersonville, NC, where she excelled in dramatics and was salutatorian of her high school class. She was a member from childhood of Mensa International. In 1968, she graduated in English from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, among the first class of women ever to attend Carolina all 4 years.
She then embarked on a career in advertising spanning 40 years that took her first to Greenville, SC via Chapel Hill's Carmichael Advertising, on to Atlanta and Ohio, eventually to become a highly esteemed and valued creative director at Philadelphia's Elkman Advertising & Public Relations. Since 2000, she has been an independent advertising consultant whose principal clients were private hospitals.
Brantley will be remembered naturally for her sharp intellect, but also her keen business acumen, her originality, and her incisive yet dry wit. She read voraciously and had an encyclopedic knowledge on almost any topic. At home, the baked goods from her kitchen were always a hit, particularly her pound cakes. An enthusiastic cinema buff by nature and heritage (her maternal grandparents owned several "movie houses" in North Carolina during Hollywood's golden age), she devoured Turner Classic Movies. She also enjoyed watching college and professional sports, especially basketball and football, and remained a loyal-to-the-end Carolina Tar Heel fan. She never married, though she had a houseful of cherished feline "children".
She is survived by her mother, Connie Claris of Hendersonville; brother and sister-in-law, Woody and Gayle Claris of Chapel Hill; brother and sister-in-law, Steve and Robin Claris of Choctaw, MS; sister, Cathy Claris and brother-in-law, Tommy Bradshaw of Burgaw; and brother, David Claris of Durham. She is also survived by her cousins, Katherine Thompson Corbett of Staunton, VA and Debbie Thompson Nelson of McAlester, OK; and by her niece, Emma Claris, and nephews Champ Claris, and Jack and Davey Bradshaw.
A memorial service will be held in Chapel Hill at a later date.
Donations to Francisvale Home for Small Animals, Americans for UNFPA, FINCA International, or Southern Poverty Law Center would be much appreciated by Brantley and the Claris family.
Published in The News & Observer on Mar. 27, 2011
Wayne, PA
Bleeka Brantley Claris passed away peacefully at her home in Wayne, Pennsylvania on March 26, 2011 from complications of pulmonary fibrosis.
Brantley was born in Geneva, New York, in 1947, the daughter of John W. "Jack" Claris, Jr., of Buffalo and Cornelia Thompson Claris of Shelby, NC. She grew up in Buffalo and later in Hendersonville, NC, where she excelled in dramatics and was salutatorian of her high school class. She was a member from childhood of Mensa International. In 1968, she graduated in English from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, among the first class of women ever to attend Carolina all 4 years.
She then embarked on a career in advertising spanning 40 years that took her first to Greenville, SC via Chapel Hill's Carmichael Advertising, on to Atlanta and Ohio, eventually to become a highly esteemed and valued creative director at Philadelphia's Elkman Advertising & Public Relations. Since 2000, she has been an independent advertising consultant whose principal clients were private hospitals.
Brantley will be remembered naturally for her sharp intellect, but also her keen business acumen, her originality, and her incisive yet dry wit. She read voraciously and had an encyclopedic knowledge on almost any topic. At home, the baked goods from her kitchen were always a hit, particularly her pound cakes. An enthusiastic cinema buff by nature and heritage (her maternal grandparents owned several "movie houses" in North Carolina during Hollywood's golden age), she devoured Turner Classic Movies. She also enjoyed watching college and professional sports, especially basketball and football, and remained a loyal-to-the-end Carolina Tar Heel fan. She never married, though she had a houseful of cherished feline "children".
She is survived by her mother, Connie Claris of Hendersonville; brother and sister-in-law, Woody and Gayle Claris of Chapel Hill; brother and sister-in-law, Steve and Robin Claris of Choctaw, MS; sister, Cathy Claris and brother-in-law, Tommy Bradshaw of Burgaw; and brother, David Claris of Durham. She is also survived by her cousins, Katherine Thompson Corbett of Staunton, VA and Debbie Thompson Nelson of McAlester, OK; and by her niece, Emma Claris, and nephews Champ Claris, and Jack and Davey Bradshaw.
A memorial service will be held in Chapel Hill at a later date.
Donations to Francisvale Home for Small Animals, Americans for UNFPA, FINCA International, or Southern Poverty Law Center would be much appreciated by Brantley and the Claris family.
Published in The News & Observer on Mar. 27, 2011
Brantley Claris
Wayne, PA
Bleeka Brantley Claris passed away peacefully at her home in Wayne, Pennsylvania on March 26, 2011 from complications of pulmonary fibrosis.
Brantley was born in Geneva, New York, in 1947, the daughter of John W. "Jack" Claris, Jr., of Buffalo and Cornelia Thompson Claris of Shelby, NC. She grew up in Buffalo and later in Hendersonville, NC, where she excelled in dramatics and was salutatorian of her high school class. She was a member from childhood of Mensa International. In 1968, she graduated in English from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, among the first class of women ever to attend Carolina all 4 years.
She then embarked on a career in advertising spanning 40 years that took her first to Greenville, SC via Chapel Hill's Carmichael Advertising, on to Atlanta and Ohio, eventually to become a highly esteemed and valued creative director at Philadelphia's Elkman Advertising & Public Relations. Since 2000, she has been an independent advertising consultant whose principal clients were private hospitals.
Brantley will be remembered naturally for her sharp intellect, but also her keen business acumen, her originality, and her incisive yet dry wit. She read voraciously and had an encyclopedic knowledge on almost any topic. At home, the baked goods from her kitchen were always a hit, particularly her pound cakes. An enthusiastic cinema buff by nature and heritage (her maternal grandparents owned several "movie houses" in North Carolina during Hollywood's golden age), she devoured Turner Classic Movies. She also enjoyed watching college and professional sports, especially basketball and football, and remained a loyal-to-the-end Carolina Tar Heel fan. She never married, though she had a houseful of cherished feline "children".
She is survived by her mother, Connie Claris of Hendersonville; brother and sister-in-law, Woody and Gayle Claris of Chapel Hill; brother and sister-in-law, Steve and Robin Claris of Choctaw, MS; sister, Cathy Claris and brother-in-law, Tommy Bradshaw of Burgaw; and brother, David Claris of Durham. She is also survived by her cousins, Katherine Thompson Corbett of Staunton, VA and Debbie Thompson Nelson of McAlester, OK; and by her niece, Emma Claris, and nephews Champ Claris, and Jack and Davey Bradshaw.
A memorial service will be held in Chapel Hill at a later date.
Donations to Francisvale Home for Small Animals, Americans for UNFPA, FINCA International, or Southern Poverty Law Center would be much appreciated by Brantley and the Claris family.
Published in The News & Observer on Mar. 27, 2011
Wayne, PA
Bleeka Brantley Claris passed away peacefully at her home in Wayne, Pennsylvania on March 26, 2011 from complications of pulmonary fibrosis.
Brantley was born in Geneva, New York, in 1947, the daughter of John W. "Jack" Claris, Jr., of Buffalo and Cornelia Thompson Claris of Shelby, NC. She grew up in Buffalo and later in Hendersonville, NC, where she excelled in dramatics and was salutatorian of her high school class. She was a member from childhood of Mensa International. In 1968, she graduated in English from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, among the first class of women ever to attend Carolina all 4 years.
She then embarked on a career in advertising spanning 40 years that took her first to Greenville, SC via Chapel Hill's Carmichael Advertising, on to Atlanta and Ohio, eventually to become a highly esteemed and valued creative director at Philadelphia's Elkman Advertising & Public Relations. Since 2000, she has been an independent advertising consultant whose principal clients were private hospitals.
Brantley will be remembered naturally for her sharp intellect, but also her keen business acumen, her originality, and her incisive yet dry wit. She read voraciously and had an encyclopedic knowledge on almost any topic. At home, the baked goods from her kitchen were always a hit, particularly her pound cakes. An enthusiastic cinema buff by nature and heritage (her maternal grandparents owned several "movie houses" in North Carolina during Hollywood's golden age), she devoured Turner Classic Movies. She also enjoyed watching college and professional sports, especially basketball and football, and remained a loyal-to-the-end Carolina Tar Heel fan. She never married, though she had a houseful of cherished feline "children".
She is survived by her mother, Connie Claris of Hendersonville; brother and sister-in-law, Woody and Gayle Claris of Chapel Hill; brother and sister-in-law, Steve and Robin Claris of Choctaw, MS; sister, Cathy Claris and brother-in-law, Tommy Bradshaw of Burgaw; and brother, David Claris of Durham. She is also survived by her cousins, Katherine Thompson Corbett of Staunton, VA and Debbie Thompson Nelson of McAlester, OK; and by her niece, Emma Claris, and nephews Champ Claris, and Jack and Davey Bradshaw.
A memorial service will be held in Chapel Hill at a later date.
Donations to Francisvale Home for Small Animals, Americans for UNFPA, FINCA International, or Southern Poverty Law Center would be much appreciated by Brantley and the Claris family.
Published in The News & Observer on Mar. 27, 2011
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Devoted Granddaughter — Parents lie in Hendersonville, NC
Gravesite Details
Interred at the Cornelius monument beside grandmother Bleeka of whom she was namesake and her maternal great-grandparents, surrounded by myriad Brantley gravestones, a common surname in Mooresville. No longer the girl with the strange names.
