Gilda Renfrow Six
Gilda Gray Renfrow Six
in 1984
Gilda was born Jan. 19, 1931, and died June 7, 2009. She married Walter Ellsworth Six on April 20, 1952.
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Gilda's children With Walter Six |
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Mark Six Feb. 4, 1956 Fla.-March 9, 2007 Lucama, NC |
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Matthew Six June 26, 1958-Sept. 11, 2010 Lucama, NC |
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Derek Six |
Family archives
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Gilda Gray Renfrow Six, daughter of James Graydon Renfrow Sr. and Rachel Stancil Renfrow, was born Jan. 19, 1931.
Dr. Hackney and Miss Mattie Ward, a midwife, delivered Gilda and her other siblings. Gilda had beautiful almost black hair and blue eyes. Graydon's nickname for Gilda was "Sister."
Gilda had pneumonia when she was 3 years old. Dr. Strickland saved her.
Rachel had a sewing machine and made most of Gilda's dresses. When Gilda was older, a neighbor lady made her clothes.
The night before J.G.'s birth on November 4, 1935, Gilda dreamed Rachel had twins. Gilda kept asking to see the other baby.
Gilda started school in Kenly and recalled one Saturday attending a free picture show in Kenly with her older brother Jimmy.
They attended the First Presbyterian Church of Kenly.
When Gilda was 7 or 8, the family moved to Lucama to the farm. Gilda's job was to feed the chickens and gather the eggs. She never learned how to milk the cow.
They began attending the wood-framed Springhill Presbyterian Church. Gilda joined Springhill Presbyterian Church when she was 12 years old. Gilda was active in the ladies' group of Springhill Presbyterian Church.
Gilda began handling tobacco at an early age and advanced to stringing. She also helped tote the sticks to the barn and was proficient at grading and tying the hands for market.
On tobacco barning day, Gilda helped their mother prepare the jars of fruits and vegetables for canning inside the barn. As the tobacco leaves were cured, the jars with vegetables and fruits were canned. Exhausted after a day of barning tobacco, Rachel and Gilda had to muster the energy to sterilize canning jars, pack them, put on the lids, and set them on boards inside the barn.
Gilda entered the wooden Buckhorn Elementary School, which was in the same building as Rock Ridge High School. High school classes for grades 7 through 12 were mostly on the second floor. The two schools shared a gym and cafeteria. There were no art classes in school. The original school burnt down, and a new one was built.
Gilda graduated from Rock Ridge High School, Lucama, NC, in 1949. She wore a floor-length white dress and carried a bouquet of red roses. Graduation was held in the school auditorium. The family proudly watched her graduation.
Gilda and J.G. both had their tonsils out. Gilda recalled being in the Wilson hospital.
Gilda loved drawing from an early age. At 5, she recalled asking her ma to show her how to draw objects. Gilda recalls that Rachel drew sketches of trees and flowers. Gilda's artistic ability continued to flourish.
In 1938, her favorite Christmas gifts included watercolors and paper.
Gilda was a self-taught artist. There were no other artists in the family and none at school or in the neighborhood. Gilda remembers having a composition book she filled with drawings when she was in 6th grade. She was artistic and gifted from an early age. Her mother told her she had inherited her great Aunt Delanie Sasser Stancil's artistic ability and that her great grandma was very talented at drawing. Eventually, Gilda began painting. Keeping younger brother Harold away from her paints was a challenge!
Gilda drew a picture of her grandma Renfrow. Grandma told Gilda, "Don't you mark me, I ain't pretty." Gilda had prints made of this drawing, sharing them with her family.
Gilda applied to Peace College in Raleigh. Peace College, a liberal arts women's college, was founded in 1857 by the Raleigh First Presbyterian Church for women.
William Peace, a successful Raleigh businessman, donated 8 acres and $10,000. A building program started. The Civil War began, and the Confederacy used the building as a military hospital. The federal government kept the building for a time after the war, using it for the Freedmen's Bureau, an agency dedicated to assisting former slaves in beginning a life of freedom. By the 1940s, Peace College's academic program included the last two years of high school and the first two years of college.
At Peace College, Gilda had her first art class. She flourished. Gilda painted her first self-portrait. She was never pleased with the results. Gilda's classes included sketching, watercolors, oils, ceramics, and mosaics. Gilda had a gift for cutting and arranging mosaics into beautiful pictures.
Gilda began a Christmas tradition in 1950 of sending linoleum block Christmas cards to family and friends. These handmade cards were cherished keepsakes.
The only painting hanging in her bedroom was an oil abstract of Jesus in shades of browns, yellows, and beiges.
Gilda designed and made the 4-generation Family Tree of the John Thomas Stancil Family.
Gilda's mosaic titled Battle of Chosin Reservoir in Korea, November to December 1950, was on exhibit at the Parris Island Museum on the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina.
Over the years, Gilda painted many portraits. They include: Eva Ann Mercer Stancil, Derek Six, Celia Rachel Stancil Renfrow in 1988, Ralph Stancil in 2003, Ethel Stancil in 2003, Jean Schore, Katherine Renfrow, and Meredith Renfrow. Vazelle commissioned the portrait of Eva Ann Mercer Stancil, and it hangs in the home of her son Bill Batts. Gilda made a lovely pencil drawing of Meredith Renfrow Braswell.
One morning, an hour before school started for Derek, Gilda asked him to sit while she painted him. He agreed. She used acrylics and finished his portrait in one hour.
Gilda and her friend Helen visited Jacksonville, NC, near Camp Lejeune in September 1949. They attended a Youth for Christ Meeting in Jacksonville, held at the courthouse. The minister asked everyone to sing "Heavenly Sunshine" and then greet the person behind them. The person behind Gilda was Walt, along with two buddies stationed at Camp Lejeune. Walt had recently completed basic training at Parris Island.
Walt invited Gilda and Helen to the corner drug store for a coke. Helen declined, saying, "No, nice girls don't go with Marines."
Gilda and Helen walked by the USO and went inside, where there was a club for teenagers. Walt and his friend also went inside. Walt cut in while Gilda was dancing with someone else and asked for her address. They began writing to each other.
Walt was the son of J. E. Six and a graduate of Sharonville High School in Sharonville, Ohio. He began smoking cigarettes at 16, preferring Pall Mall, Winston, or Marlboro. Walt quit smoking the day he retired.
Walt joined the Marine Corps in 1948 and was trained as a cameraman and photographer.
Gilda and Walt corresponded regularly. Before Walt left for Camp Pendleton in California, he met Rachel and Graydon. Gilda completed one year at Peace College and needed a summer job. She and her good friend Eva traveled to Washington, DC, looking for work.
Walt was sent to Korea with the First Marine Division as the only trained movie photographer for the Marines. His duty was to film the war, including the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir. This battle is one of the Marines' proudest moments in military history. The Chinese Army was forced to withdraw, and the Marines maintained their ranks and marched out orderly. Walt's movies are still used by the Marine Corps, and he was given a byline.
Years later, Gilda created a beautiful mosaic of the battle, which was displayed at the Parris Island Museum at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in Parris Island, South Carolina. Gilda was employed by the CIA during the summer of 1950.
She returned to Peace College in the fall of 1950 and graduated 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. Gilda was elected to the Privilege Honor Roll Group and worked again for the CIA.
Walt returned home to Sharonville, Ohio, in September 1951. Gilda flew up for the weekend, meeting Walt's family for the first time. Walt and Gilda became engaged.
Gilda flew back to DC and traveled to Lucama to tell her parents the news. While in DC, she attended the Corcoran School of Art at night. Walt would pick her up and take her to her appointments. They also attended many military dances, and Gilda loved the Big Band sound.
While Walt was stationed at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, VA, they saw each other most weekends. Construction of a new brick Springhill Presbyterian Church began in 1951 and was completed 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, NC. Rev. Charles E. Parrish and Rev. Denver S. Blevins officiated. Mrs. Edward Vick of Raleigh was the pianist, and Mrs. Lloyd Stott of Washington, D.C., was the soloist. She sang "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 lace cuffs. Her veil was double-tiered French illusion trimmed in Chantilly lace, attached to a tiara of seed pearls. Gilda carried a satin-covered prayer book with an orchid.
The maid of honor was Helen Sue Bunn, who wore an ankle-length lavender taffeta dress covered with net and a matching hat. Helen carried a bouquet of mixed flowers. The flower girl was Margaret Parrish, daughter of Rev. Charles Parrish. Margaret wore a yellow organdy dress with a matching headband and carried a green organdy basket, dropping dogwood blossoms. Bridesmaids Barbara Lamm and Kay Frances Watson wore net and lace-covered pink taffeta dresses with pink headbands. They carried nosegays of spring flowers.
Walt's best man was Walter Duermit of Sharonville, OH. The ushers were Thomas Stancil Jr., Gilda's first cousin, from Asheboro, NC, and Edward Smith from Sharonville, OH. Rachel, Gilda's mother, wore a navy blue and white crepe dress. Gilda's favorite color was blue, and as she got older, she preferred navy blue. Walt's mother was ill, and his parents were unable to attend the wedding.
Gilda's going-away outfit was a toast brown gabardine suit with a matching purse and shoes. Walt and Gilda left for a wedding trip through the Blue Ridge Mountains on their way to Cincinnati, Ohio. Walt worked for the New York Central Railroad Company in Sharonville, Ohio.
Walt did not like the cold and was very sensitive to it. His good friend from the Marines, Pete McDonald, an Irishman from Brooklyn, NY, who now lived in Tampa, encouraged Walt to move there. Walt decided they would move to Tampa, Florida, and he would attend the University of Tampa, established in 1933. The university was located in the Tampa Bay Hotel, which had more than 500 rooms and was five stories tall. Built around 1890 by Henry B. Plant, a railroad and shipping magnate, the hotel featured a mixture of styles with ornate Victorian gingerbread, Moorish minarets, domes, and cupolas.
A few days after Christmas in 1952, Walt purchased a shiny black 1950 Packard Hearse at a used car dealership in Sharonville, OH, for the trip. It was large enough to hold all of their possessions.
They left Ohio and drove through West Virginia on the way to see Rachel and Graydon in Lucama. Anytime Walt stopped for gas, the attendant acted fearful and stood well away from the hearse as he pumped the gasoline. Once in Huntington, when Walt stopped for a red light, he was waved through by a policeman. Motorists respectfully stopped as they passed by.
Before leaving Rachel's house, she cautioned Gilda to call ahead and let Uncle Ralph know they would be arriving in a hearse. She did, and it became a lasting memory for both Ralph and Ethel.
Once in Tampa, they stayed with Pete and Millie until they could find a suitable apartment. Walt advertised the hearse in the Tampa Tribune. Within a few days, a man from Holland purchased the hearse for his bulb business. Walt got enough money from the sale to buy a black Buick.
Walt and Gilda moved into an upstairs apartment, and Walt enrolled in the University of Tampa in 1953. He also entered the Marine Reserves. While there, a yellow cat wandered up looking for a home. Gilda named him Ferdinand.
Later in the year, Walt traded the Buick for a green Nash. They drove the Nash home to NC for Christmas.
Ralph, Ethel, Georgeanne, Renn, Hale, and Harold visited Gilda and Walt. Gilda went with them to the famous Ringling Art Museum in Sarasota, FL. This remains Gilda's favorite art museum.
Gilda's favorite artist is Rembrandt, and her favorite painting is titled "Jacob Wrestling." Gilda made a copy of this painting around 1995, and it hangs in her living room.
Gilda became pregnant with Mark in 1955. Before Mark was born, they moved into a large, comfortable house.
Soon after Walter Mark was born on Feb. 4, 1956, Rachel traveled to Florida to see her first grandson. She stopped by and visited Ralph, Ethel, and family. While there, she made syrup candy, like she used to do as a girl at home. Syrup was boiled, popcorn added, then made into balls. One bit of history is that Effie and Delanie were making this treat when Mamie, a toddler, fell and got her hands into the boiling syrup. Due to her mother's skills as a nurse, she completely recovered.
Walt graduated with a BA in History and Political Science. Influenced by a Marine friend, Walt decided to enter Marine Officers' Candidate School. The plan was to rent an apartment in Wilson, NC, for Gilda and Mark, and the Marine's wife and baby to move into. Walt discovered he did not like the OSC. He sought to leave and was discharged with a minor heart problem.
Walt returned to Ohio in the fall of 1957. The family included Walt, Gilda, Mark, and Ferdinand. Unfortunately, Ferdinand disappeared.
Walt was hired as a Product Engineer for a dry cleaning company. He was soon transferred to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and moved his family. Walt contacted dry cleaning establishments and explained the new, better product.
After 2 or 3 months in Cedar Rapids, Walt moved Gilda and Mark to nearby Washington, Iowa. Walt was traveling for five days per week. He had a large area that included parts of Illinois.
After a year, Walt decided he did not want to travel and work for this company anymore. He moved Gilda and Mark to NC. They stayed with Rachel and Graydon until Walt secured a job.
Walt was hired by Nationwide as an insurance adjuster. He moved Gilda and Mark to Raleigh. One perk was a company automobile.
After a time, the company moved Walt to Lexington, NC. Their second son, Walter Matt, was born here on June 26, 1958.
Nationwide moved Walt back to Raleigh in 1960. Then, just before Derek was born, Walt was moved to Goldsboro. Here they had a yellow indoor cat Gilda named Tilly.
Gilda taught private oil painting lessons there. One student was Mary Ann Hales, Gilda's first cousin. Mary Ann enjoyed painting portraits. Walter Derek was born on October 19, 1960.
Soon after Derek was born, Walt's brother in CA got a divorce and planned to move in with Walt and family. Hilda had several rental houses and suggested Walt and Gilda move to Fremont and rent one from her. They made the move.
Gilda and Walt returned to Lucama and lived near where Gilda grew up. Gilda earned her BFA degree at Barton College. She taught art for 11 years at Springhill Middle School and oil painting for 3 years at Rock Ridge High School. Gilda also taught oil and acrylic painting at Wilson Technical Community College.
In 1972, Walt was in an auto accident on the Goldsboro bypass. A boy ran a stop sign, and Walt's car was destroyed. Walt had surgery on his right shoulder.
Gilda loved flowers, particularly gardenias. She has several in her yard.
In 1985, Gilda completed a beautiful mosaic honoring the 1st Marine Division's escape from 120,000 Chinese during the Korean War. It was placed in the Marine Corps Museum in Parris Island, South Carolina.
In December 1985, Walt and Gilda attended a San Diego Reunion of the Chosen Few survivors of the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir. Walt and Gilda traveled through Houston on their way back home.
A cousin, USAF Captain Michael Davenport, and his wife arranged for them to tour NASA. While there, they met the first teacher selected to travel in space, Christa McAuliffe. They had a photo taken with her and the alternate, Barbara Morgan. Gilda asked for a photo and autograph, and they happily obliged. A photo was made with Walt and the two teachers. Walt said, "I want my arms around you if I am going to have my picture taken with two good-looking girls." They all put their arms around each other.
Gilda had a cat named Mabel. Mabel is black with the exception of 3 or 4 white hairs under her chin. Mabel, 23 years old, was born at Gilda's in 1986. Mabel was named for the black lady who helped look after Rachel for a time.
In 1993, Gilda and Walt made a trip to South Korea. This was a thank you from the Korean government to show their appreciation to those who fought so bravely for their freedom. Walt and Gilda went to Panmunjom, North Korea, where the war ended with Armistice talks.
Walt died on April 29, 2005, in Wilson Memorial Hospital. He was buried in Springhill Presbyterian Church cemetery.
In 2006, Gilda presented a commissioned 9-by-5-foot mosaic mural of Kenly in 1981 to the Tobacco Farm Life Museum. The title is Tobacco Land, and it weighs more than 100 pounds. Gilda spent over five months working on it. It features tobacco plants, a field, and a barn. Gilda has completed two other mosaics with an Egyptian theme.
Oldest son Mark died on March 9, 2007, of heart and kidney problems. He was a member of the Masons. Mark was gifted in drawing and writing.
Derek has a natural artistic ability.
Gilda's favorite dessert was ice cream.
Gilda died at home in Wilson County, NC, on June 7, 2009.
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