|
|
| Gilda's children with Walter Ellsworth Six |
|---|
| Walter Mark Six Feb. 4, 1956 Tampa, Fla.-March 9, 2007 Wake, NC; Buried in Spring Hill Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Lucama, NC |
| Walter Matthew Six June 26, 1958 Lexington, NC-Sept. 11, 2010 Lucama, NC; Buried in Spring Hill Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Lucama, NC |
| Walter Derek Six |
Explore the Artistry of Gilda Renfrow Six
View the four-generation family tree sketch
Courtesy Stancil Reunion Archive |
Gilda Gray Renfrow Six, a woman of remarkable artistic talent, unwavering spirit, and deep family devotion, lived a life rich with experiences, learning, and creativity. Born on January 19, 1931, she was the daughter of James Graydon Renfrow Sr. and Rachel Stancil Renfrow. Delivered by Dr. Hackney and midwife Miss Mattie Ward, Gilda was a baby with beautiful, almost black hair and blue eyes, affectionately nicknamed "Sister" by her father, Graydon.
Gilda's early childhood was marked by a severe bout of pneumonia at age three, from which she was saved by Dr. Strickland. She recalled cherished moments like her mother, Rachel, sewing many of her dresses on a sewing machine, and a neighbor lady later making her clothes.
Family was central to Gilda from a young age. In the fall of 1935, shortly before her grandpa George Ira Stancil passed away, Gilda remembered running to him, giving him a big hug, and telling him, "I love you Grandpa." The night before her brother J.G.'s birth on November 4, 1935, Gilda even dreamed Rachel had twins, leading her to persistently ask to see the "other baby."
The family attended the First Presbyterian Church of Kenly. Gilda started school in Kenly, recalling a happy Saturday spent at a free picture show there with her older brother, Jimmy. When Gilda was seven or eight, the family moved to a farm in Lucama. Here, her job was to feed chickens and gather eggs, though she never learned to milk the cow. They began attending the wood-framed Springhill Presbyterian Church, where Gilda joined at age 12 and later became active in the ladies' group.
From an early age, Gilda was involved in farm work, proficiently handling tobacco from beginning to end — stringing, toting sticks to the barn, and expertly grading and tying the hands for market. On "barning day," she tirelessly helped her mother prepare fruits and vegetables for canning inside the barn as the tobacco cured, working late into the night to sterilize jars and pack them.
Gilda attended the wooden Buckhorn Elementary School, which shared a building, gym, and cafeteria with Rock Ridge High School in Lucama. High school classes (grades 7-12) were primarily on the second floor. Despite the lack of art classes, Gilda graduated from Rock Ridge High School in 1949, wearing a floor-length white dress and carrying a bouquet of red roses, as her family proudly watched. She and her brother J.G. both had their tonsils removed at the Wilson hospital, an experience Gilda remembered.
Gilda's artistic passion ignited early. At age five, she asked her mother to teach her to draw, and Rachel responded with sketches of trees and flowers. This early encouragement set Gilda on her path. In 1938, watercolors and paper were among her favorite Christmas gifts. A self-taught artist, Gilda filled a composition book with drawings in sixth grade. Her mother revealed that Gilda had inherited her great Aunt Delanie Sasser Stancil's artistic ability, and that her great-grandmother was also a talented drawer. Keeping her younger brother Harold away from her paints became a familiar challenge as Gilda began painting.
She even drew a print of her Grandma Renfrow, despite Grandma's demurral, "Don't you mark me, I ain't pretty." Gilda cherished this drawing, making prints to share with family.
Gilda applied to Peace College in Raleigh, a liberal arts women's college founded in 1857 by the Raleigh First Presbyterian Church. At Peace College, she finally took her first formal art class and flourished. She explored sketching, watercolors, oils, ceramics, and mosaics, demonstrating a particular gift for cutting and arranging mosaics into beautiful pictures. She painted her first self-portrait there, though she was never fully pleased with it. Gilda generously donated two paintings, "Early Spring Morning" and "The Mirror," to the Peace College Alumnae Art collection.
In 1950, Gilda began a cherished Christmas tradition of sending handmade linoleum block Christmas cards to family and friends. The only painting hanging in her bedroom was an abstract oil of Jesus in shades of browns, yellows, and beiges.
Her artistic legacy to her family included the meticulously designed and crafted 4-generation Family Tree of the John Thomas Stancil Family in 1971, a piece that remains on exhibit at each Stancil Reunion..
Over the years, Gilda painted numerous portraits, including Eva Ann Mercer Stancil (commissioned by Vazelle, now hanging in her son Bill Batts' home), Derek Six, Celia Rachel Stancil Renfrow (1988), Ralph Stancil (2003), Ethel Stancil (2003), Jean Schore, Katherine Renfrow, and Meredith Renfrow (also a lovely pencil drawing). Famously, she once completed a portrait of her grandson Derek in acrylics in just one hour, asking him to sit for her before school.
Gilda's mosaic titled Battle of Chosin Reservoir in Korea, November to December 1950, honoring the 1st Marine Division's escape from 120,000 Chinese, was exhibited at the Parris Island Museum on the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in South Carolina, a testament to her artistic skill and historical reverence. In 2006, she presented a commissioned 9-by-5-foot mosaic mural of Kenly in 1981, titled Tobacco Land, to the Tobacco Farm Life Museum. This impressive work, weighing over 100 pounds, features tobacco plants, a field, and a barn. Gilda also completed two other mosaics with an Egyptian theme.
In September 1949, Gilda and her friend Helen visited Jacksonville, North Carolina, near Camp Lejeune. They attended a Youth for Christ Meeting where, after singing "Heavenly Sunshine," they were instructed to greet the person behind them. That person was Walt, a Marine stationed at Camp Lejeune who had recently completed basic training at Parris Island. Walt invited Gilda and Helen for a coke at the corner drugstore, but Helen declined, stating, "No, nice girls don't go with Marines!" Undeterred, Gilda and Helen went to the USO club, where Walt also appeared. Walt cut in while Gilda was dancing and asked for her address, initiating a regular correspondence between them.
Walter Ellsworth Six, son of J. E. Six, was a graduate of Sharonville High School in Sharonville, Ohio. He joined the Marine Corps in 1948, trained as a cameraman and photographer, and began smoking cigarettes at 16 (a habit he successfully quit the day he retired). Before Walt left for Camp Pendleton in California, he met Gilda's parents, Rachel and Graydon.
Walt was then sent to Korea with the First Marine Division, serving as the sole trained movie photographer. His duty was to film the war, including the harrowing Battle of the Chosin Reservoir, one of the Marine Corps' proudest moments. His films are still used by the Marine Corps, and he received a byline for his work.
By Ty Hinton/Courtesy Stancil Reunion Archive |
Years later, in 1985, Gilda created her powerful mosaic honoring this very battle, which was placed in the Marine Corps Museum at Parris Island. In December 1985, Walt and Gilda attended a San Diego Reunion of the "Chosen Few" survivors of the battle. In 1993, they made a poignant trip to South Korea, a "thank you" gift from the Korean government, visiting Panmunjom, North Korea, where the war's armistice talks concluded.
During the summers of 1950 and 1951, Gilda worked for the CIA, a testament to her capabilities beyond art. She returned to Peace College in the fall of 1950, graduating in May 1951. While at Peace, she was a member of Sigma Phi Kappa sorority, Alpha Pi Epsilon honorary commercial sorority, and Sigma Pi Alpha honorary language sorority, and was elected to the Privilege Honor Roll Group. She also attended the Corcoran School of Art at night in Washington, D.C., while Walt was stationed at Quantico, Virginia. They saw each other most weekends, and Gilda loved attending military dances and listening to the Big Band sound.
Courtesy Stancil Reunion Archive |
Walt returned home to Sharonville, Ohio, in September 1951. Gilda flew up for a weekend to meet his family for the first time, and they soon became engaged. After returning to D.C. and then Lucama to tell her parents, Gilda began to prepare for her wedding. Construction on a new brick Springhill Presbyterian Church began in 1951 and was completed just in time for Gilda's wedding.
Gilda and Walt were married at 5 o'clock in the afternoon on April 20, 1952, at Springhill Presbyterian Church in Lucama, North Carolina. The ceremony was officiated by Rev. Charles E. Parrish and Rev. Denver S. Blevins, with Mrs. Edward Vick as pianist and Mrs. Lloyd Stott as soloist, singing "Always," "Ah Sweet Mystery of Life," and the "Lord's Prayer." Gilda wore an ankle-length gown of bridal satin with a scalloped neckline and Chantilly lace-trimmed veil. Her maid of honor was Helen Sue Bunn, and bridesmaids were Barbara Lamm and Kay Frances Watson. Margaret Parrish served as flower girl. Walt's best man was Walter Duermit, with ushers Thomas Stancil Jr. (Gilda's cousin) and Edward Smith. Gilda's mother, Rachel, wore a navy blue and white crepe dress (navy blue being Gilda's favorite color). Sadly, Walt's parents were unable to attend due to his mother's illness.
For their wedding trip, Walt and Gilda traveled through the Blue Ridge Mountains on their way to Cincinnati, Ohio. Walt began working for the New York Central Railroad Company in Sharonville.
Walt, sensitive to the cold, was encouraged by his Marine friend Pete McDonald to move to Tampa, Florida. In late December 1952, Walt purchased a shiny black 1950 Packard Hearse at a used car dealership in Sharonville to carry all their possessions on the journey. The hearse garnered fearful reactions from gas attendants and respectful deference from policemen and motorists as they drove through West Virginia and to Lucama to visit Rachel and Graydon. Gilda had to call ahead to warn her Uncle Ralph about their unusual transport!
Upon arrival in Tampa, they stayed with Pete and Millie until they found an upstairs apartment. Walt advertised the hearse in the Tampa Tribune, selling it quickly to a man for his bulb business, and used the money to buy a black Buick (later traded for a green Nash, which they drove to NC for Christmas). Walt enrolled in the University of Tampa in 1953 and joined the Marine Reserves. A yellow cat, Ferdinand, joined their household but later disappeared when they moved back to Ohio.
During their time in Tampa, Gilda visited the famous Ringling Art Museum in Sarasota, Florida, which remained her favorite art museum. Her favorite artist was Rembrandt, and her favorite painting was "Jacob Wrestling," a copy of which she made around 1995 and proudly displayed in her living room.
Gilda became pregnant with their first son, Walter Mark Six, born on February 4, 1956. Before Mark's birth, they moved into a large, comfortable house. Rachel traveled to Florida to meet her first grandson, making syrup candy for the family, a treat she recalled from her own girlhood.
Walt graduated from the University of Tampa with a BA in History and Political Science. Though he briefly entered Marine Officers' Candidate School, he disliked it and was honorably discharged due to a minor heart problem. In the fall of 1957, the family (Walt, Gilda, Mark) moved back to Ohio, where Walt was hired as a Product Engineer for a dry cleaning company. This job led them to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and later to nearby Washington, Iowa, with Walt traveling five days a week across parts of Illinois.
After a year of extensive travel, Walt decided to leave the company and moved the family back to North Carolina, staying with Rachel and Graydon until he secured a new job. Walt was hired by Nationwide as an insurance adjuster, prompting a move to Raleigh (with the perk of a company car). Their second son, Walter Matt Six, was born in Lexington, North Carolina, on June 26, 1958, after Nationwide moved Walt there. In 1960, they moved back to Raleigh, and then to Goldsboro just before their third son, Walter Derek Six, was born on October 19, 1960. In Goldsboro, Gilda taught private oil painting lessons, with her first cousin Mary Ann Hales being one of her students. After Derek's birth, the family moved to Fremont, California, renting a house from Walt's sister Hilda.
Gilda and Walt eventually returned to Lucama, settling near Gilda's childhood home. Gilda pursued further education, earning her BFA degree at Barton College. She dedicated herself to teaching art, spending eleven years at Springhill Middle School, three years teaching oil painting at Rock Ridge High School, and also teaching oil and acrylic painting at Wilson Technical Community College.
In 1972, Walt was involved in a severe auto accident on the Goldsboro bypass when a boy ran a stop sign, destroying Walt's car and requiring surgery on his right shoulder.
Gilda's love for flowers, especially gardenias, was evident in her yard. She also shared her home with a beloved black cat named Mabel, born in 1986 and named after a lady who helped care for Rachel. Mabel lived to the remarkable age of 23.
A highlight for Gilda and Walt was their tour of NASA, arranged by their cousin, USAF Captain Michael Davenport. They met Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher selected for space travel, and her alternate, Barbara Morgan. Walt famously quipped, "I want my arms around you if I am going to have my picture taken with two good-looking girls," resulting in a cherished photo of them all.
Life also brought its share of sorrow. Walter Ellsworth Six, Gilda's husband of 53 years, passed away on April 29, 2005, in Wilson Memorial Hospital. He was buried in Springhill Presbyterian Church cemetery. Just two years later, their oldest son, Walter Mark Six, died on March 9, 2007, due to heart and kidney problems. Mark, a Mason, was also gifted in drawing and writing, a talent shared by his younger brother Derek, who has a natural artistic ability.
Gilda Renfrow Six, a woman whose life was a testament to creativity, family, and resilience, passed away at home in Wilson County, North Carolina, on June 7, 2009, at the age of 78, after a long battle with Recurrent Renal Cell Cancer, first diagnosed in 1990. She had led a productive life until 2007. She was buried on June 10, 2009, beside her beloved Walt in the Springhill Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Lucama, where she had been a long-time member.
Gilda's smile, acts of kindness, and gentle spirit are held dear by all who knew her. Her legacy of art, including the family tree and her cherished paintings, continues to remind the family of their roots and the importance of their ties, as Gilda, the first known artist in her family, fearlessly made her own path and pursued her own dreams.
— Renn Stancil Hinton, daughter of George Ralph Stancil