Alta Mae Blake

by Marilyn (Cole) Posey

Alta Mae (Blake) Bee was my maternal grandmother. Her parents were Rueben and Bessie (Cole) Blake.

My grandmother contracted polio at the age of 15 and was in a sanitarium for some time.
Alta Mae was married twice. When she and my grandfather James Adam Bee first married, he built a house up a "holler" in Orlando. Their first child was my mother Mary Lee. My grandfather passed away in 1947, when she was just about due with their daughter Shirley. Three of their children passed by either stillbirth or died shortly after birth.

My grandmother then married Kenneth Spinks, who was my grandfather's best friend, or at least one of them. My grandad knew he was dying and asked Kenneth to look after grandma and the children. . . and that's just exactly what he did. Later on of course, they fell in love and had 2 of their own children.

Above left is Alta Mae and James at the time of their marriage. To the right is Alta Mae with her first father-in-law John Bee and her daughter Mary Lee Bee.


Obituary of Kenneth Lloyd Spinks
Kenneth Lloyd Spinks, 84, of 3564 Valley Chapel, Weston, died at 5:00 a.m. Tuesday, September 12, 2006, at Louis A. Johnson VAMC, Clarksburg, after a brief illness. He was born November 9, 1921, in Greenbrier County, a son of the late Lloyd C. and Vecie Ware Spinks. He was Methodist by faith. He was a timber cutter for thirty years. Kenneth enjoyed taking his dog "Skippy" for a ride to the lake in his old truck every day that he could. He enjoyed gardening. He was a WWII Army veteran. He was preceded in death by his wife, Alta Mae Blake Spinks, who died November 8, 1990; two stepsons, Billy Bee, who died October 10, 2005, and Jackie Bee, who died in 1948; one step grandson, Ronald Leon Cole; three brothers, Robert, John and Tom Spinks; and three sisters, Genaveive Barr, Mary Margaret Hayhurst and Colleine Rogers. He is survived by son, Donnie and wife Pam Spinks of Weston; daughter, Helen Blake of Weston; stepson, Carl and wife Rena Bee of Weston; two stepdaughters, Shirley Anderson of Lost Creek and Mary Lee Cole of Weston; three brothers, Melvin and Bobby Spinks, both of Baltimore, MD, and James Spinks of Bowden; two sisters, Eveadene Swauger and Peggy Anthony, both of Virginia; one grandson, Dusty Spinks of Weston; two granddaughters, Sheyanne Spinks of Weston and Lynn Blake of Buckhannon; six step grandsons, Robert Lee Eagle of Norfolk, VA, James Eagle of Roanoke, Roger Lee Cole of Weston, Robert Cole of Nevada, Pat Oldaker of Walkersville and Jason Dehanoe of Walkersville; ten step granddaughters, Barbara Ruble, Debra Pratt, Marica McCarty and Lana Cole, all of Weston, Marilyn L. Cole Posey and Marissa Cole Aman, both of Jane Lew, Connie Ann Lowther of Roanoke, Marti Denny of NY, Chelle Cole of Buckhannon and Crystal Wright of Murphys Creek; two great-grandsons, Joshua Kincaid of IN and Cody Kincaid of Walkersville; one great-granddaughter, Tearea Walton of Berlin; several step great-grandchildren and step great-great-grandchildren.Friends were received at the Boyle Funeral Home of Weston on Thursday, September 14, from 6 to 8 p.m. Funeral services were held at 11 a.m. Friday, September 15. Interment with full military rites, provided by Addison-McLaughlin VFW Post #3738, Webster Springs, followed in the Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens at Jane Lew.