Frances Fulk Rufty

Frances Fulk Rufty, 97, passed away June 6, 2022, at her home in Las Vegas, where she has been a resident since 1989. She is preceded in death by her father, Claude Demetrius Fulk, her mother, Minnie Houston Fulk; her sister, Mary Claude Stapleton; her husband, Archibald C. Rufty, Sr.; her son, Joe Hearne Rufty; and her daughter, Frances Mary Rufty Parkton. She is survived by her son, Bruce Ross Rufty (Salisbury, NC); her son, Archibald C. Rufty, Jr. and daughter-in-law, Diane Beck Rufty and their children, Archie III, Thomas, Brandon, and Davidson (Las Vegas, NV); her grandson, Erik Parkton and his wife, Shara, and their children, Kiara and Kyle (Redondo Beach, CA), and her granddaughter, Sara Parkton and her children, Lily, Ava, Vincent, and Samantha (Las Vegas, NV). She is remembered fondly by her dear friend and caregiver, Alice Brady.

Frances was born September 7, 1924, in Salisbury,

NC. She graduated from Spencer High School at the age of 15. She attended Duke University and graduated at 19. She hadn’t planned to be a lawyer, but at the time, the career choices for women were to be a nurse, teacher or secretary. Frances decided to

attend Duke University School of Law and graduated at 20 years old. She passed the District of Columbia Bar Exam at 21 and the North Carolina Bar Exam at 22. She was also admitted to practice law in Federal District Courts and U.S. Court of Appeals.

Even with all the accomplishments of completing

law school and passing the bar exams, there were not many opportunities for female lawyers in the 1940’s. She finally got a job, after a recommendation from a stranger she met at a lunch counter during her job search in DC, reading and summarizing administrative law opinions.

After about a year there, she returned to Durham, NC and was appointed Research Librarian at Duke University Law Library. She finally found a law firm willing to give her a chance. Her duties were limited to checking titles, but because the salary was low, she decided to move home and began work as a typesetter for the local newspaper, The Salisbury Post. She was then offered a position with an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice in

Salisbury. The only requirement was that she be proficient in shorthand. She began after-hours tutoring from the head of the local secretarial school and mastered it in two weeks. It was at that job that she met Archie Rufty, a widower with two young sons who had his law practice down the hall. Archie and Frances married in 1955 and started practicing law together. They had two children, Frances, born in 1960 and Archie, Jr. born in 1960. Her husband had been involved in politics and encouraged her to run for Clerk of Superior Court of Rowan County in 1958. She won, becoming the first woman to hold an elected office in the county.

After serving two terms, she and her husband continued to practice law until they retired and moved to Las Vegas in 1989. They continued to support local organizations in NC that meant a lot to them, Catawba College, Rufty-Holmes Senior Center, Bell Tower Green and Duke University. Frances was a member of numerous organizations,

the Salisbury City School Board, the NC Bar Association, the National Association of Women Lawyers, the Rowan County Bar Association, First Baptist Church in Spencer (where she taught Sunday School and sang in the choir), St. John’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury, and Good Samaritan Lutheran Church and Shadow Hills Church in Las Vegas. Frances lived an amazing, long, and full life, filled with plenty of joys and hardships, celebrations and disappointments. No matter what she went through, she always had a positive attitude. So many mornings,

she would wake up and before Diane even raised her shades, she would say, “What a beautiful day!”

She was smart. Her family had moved to a new town just before school started. She had finished first

grade so she would be going into second grade. The school wanted her to repeat the first grade. When her father heard, he marched down to the principal’s office with Frances and had her read the newspaper to him. He put her in third grade instead. Archie, Jr. once ran into someone that knew his parents.

He said how nice and smart they both were and

told him if he ever got in trouble, he should go to his mother because she was smarter than his dad.

She was an avid reader. She was so excited when her father bought her Gone With The Wind that she

read it in one day! She played Bridge most of her life. She was asked to join a Bridge group soon after

moving to Las Vegas. She met the most wonderful friends there and continued to play every Tuesday until Covid when they switched to weekly zoom calls

to visit with each other.

Frances loved to travel. She had her bag packed as

soon as we mentioned we had a trip planned. Just a year ago, she took an RV trip with her family across the country from Las Vegas to her lake house in NC. As her grandson Thomas said, “How many people have that quality of life at 96 years old?!”

She loved watching and attending sporting events. She and her husband could always be found at Legion baseball games at Catawba College or across the state. She would go to UNC football and basketball games with Archie (his alma mater). Frances loved watching her Duke Blue Devils and Coach K on TV or at Cameron Indoor Stadium or at the ACC and

NCAA tournaments. Frances enjoyed any activity that her grandchildren were involved in. She became one of The Meadows Schools’ most devoted supporters of athletics, arts, and academics, including establishing The Rufty Family Scholarships. Frances was kind

and generous. Having had very little growing up, she said how grateful she was for Gods’ blessings that allowed her to do so much for her family. She loved her family with all her heart.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at

1:00pm, July 16, 2022, at Shadow Hills Church, 7811 Vegas Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89128, followed by a reception.

Donations may be made to Rufty-Holmes Senior Center, Salvation Army or Keep Memory Alive (Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health).