Wanda Stone Vaughn

Lake City/Spartanburg:  Wanda Elaine Stone (Cantey) Vaughn died   Wednesday, December 30, 2020 at the home of her daughter and son-in-law in Spartanburg, SC, after a courageous fight against ALS (Lou Gherig’s Disease).  As a beloved daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, cousin, co-worker, and friend, she will be missed deeply by all those who knew and loved her.

Mrs. Vaughn was born August 26, 1943 in Florence County, the only child of the late Manning DeLeon “Peck” Stone and the late Myrtleen Brown Stone. She attended school in Coward and Hannah until 7th grade when her family moved to “the farm” on Hwy 378.  She then attended schools in Lake City, and graduated in 1961 from Lake City High School. She attended the School of Nursing of the McLeod Infirmary, Florence, SC, until she married and began a family.  She worked many years for various businesses before working in sales alongside her husband Julian.   She briefly owned and operated a deli in Pamplico, SC, a grocery store in Hemingway, SC, and a glass business in Lake City, SC.  She retired as the bookkeeper of Equipment Resource Connection, Inc. in Spartanburg, SC, in June, 2020.

Mrs. Vaughn loved her church families, enjoying hours of worship, ministry, and fellowship with each one. She was a member of Fairview Free Will Baptist Church in Spartanburg, SC.  Before moving to Spartanburg, she was a member of Gilead Free Will Baptist Church in Scranton. She was a past member of High Hill Free Will Baptist Church and a charter member of Lynches River Free Will Baptist Church. Mrs. Vaughn loved music and shared her love of music with her church by faithfully serving each one as organist, pianist, choir member, praise band member, adult choir director, and/or youth choir director.   Serving in the music ministry was her delight, but Mrs. Vaughn also participated in other ministries of each church, such as Sunday School and VBS.

Mrs. Vaughn loved home (“the farm”) and her family.  Her farm-girl roots formed the grit and work ethic she needed to survive divorce, death of a spouse, cancer, and care-giving for her mother who died with Alzheimer’s.  When she needed help taking care of her mother, Mrs. Vaughn moved herself and her mother to Spartanburg, trading the familiar life of home for the unfamiliar world of Spartanburg.  Mrs. Vaughn’s sacrifice of starting over in a new hometown at age 65 enabled her mother to get the care she needed during her illness.  After her mother died, Mrs. Vaughn became certified through USC’s Arnold School of Public Health to teach classes to family members and caregivers of dementia and Alzheimer’s patients.        

Mrs. Vaughn’s immediate and extended family have been richly blessed by her love for, devotion to, and sacrifice for them; blessed by her humor and story-telling skills; blessed by her strong, straight-forward nature; and, blessed by her Christ-following influence.  She is survived by her children, Gordon Jacob Cantey, Jr, of Dunn, NC, and Carla Cantey Renfrow (Jamie) of Spartanburg, SC.  She is also survived by her five grandchildren:  Michael Jacob Cantey and Gordon Joshua Cantey, both of Dunn, NC; Catherine Caroline “Callie” Renfrow and Laura Madison Renfrow, both of Spartanburg, SC, and Harlan Renfrow Despres (Branson) of Columbia, SC.  Mrs. Vaughn was predeceased by her husband Julian Theodore Vaughn and by her parents.

Visitation will be Saturday, January 2, 2021, 4:00-6:00 pm at Carolina Funeral Home, 215 Highway 378 Bypass, Scranton, SC 29591.

Funeral service will be Sunday, January 3, 2021, 2:00 pm at Gilead Free Will Baptist Church, 802 Cockfield Road, Scranton SC 29591, with burial in the cemetery of Lynches River Free Will Baptist Church, 1410 E. Myrtle Beach Hwy, Coward, SC 29530.

A memorial service will be held at a later date at Fairview FWB Church in Spartanburg, SC.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to

ALS Association, South Carolina Chapter, 130 Gardeners Circle, PMB 622, John’s Island, SC 29455;
Fairview FWB Church, 2058 Chesnee Highway, Spartanburg, SC 29303; or
Gilead FWB Church, 802 Cockfield Road, Scranton, SC 29591

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