William Frank Braden

William Frank Braden was born in Lynnville, Tennessee on July 30, 1935 and he peacefully departed on December 7, 2025 at the age of 90. He was born to John Quincy Braden and Ida Mae Nowlin Braden, the fourth of eight children.

William Frank grew up in Lynnville, Tennessee — a rural town in Giles County. His earliest days were spent on the family farm where his lifelong love for fishing, gardening and the great outdoors began. Much of his childhood was spent with his siblings and cousins whom he loved very dearly.

In 1955, William Frank graduated from Bridgeforth High School in Pulaski, Tennessee. After graduating, he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio to live with his Aunt Sophronia and Uncle James Ellis and began a job in car part manufacturing at General Motors, though he went back to Tennessee as often as he could. While working at GM, William Frank also studied at the University of Cincinnati earning a degree in Applied Arts in 1963. On one of his many trips back home, he met Willa Ruth Duke Stone, a widow with three young children — Johnny, Sandra and Marcus — and on November 6, 1965, William Frank and Ruth married and the two moved to Cincinnati with their children. A few years after their move to Cincinnati, Frank and Ruth welcomed two daughters — Regina and Tracey — rounding-out the Braden family.

William Frank had many hobbies including fishing, gardening and painting. He was also a great sportsman, playing baseball, horseshoes and bowling. He enjoyed watching sporting events and followed Cincinnati sports teams very closely. When he wasn’t working on things outside of the home, he could be found in his basement listening to his huge collection of music spanning decades of genres and technologies; from the blues to soul to gospel, from vinyl records to CDs and everything in between, William Frank loved music.

William Frank was baptized into the body of Christ by Bro. Christmon and became an active member of the Beecher Street Church of Christ and the Gray Road Church of Christ. William Frank served as a member of the finance team, a deacon, taught classes, communed with other members and notably continued the garden efforts begun by Bro. Sherman Strayhorn at the church in his more than 60 years of membership. He was devoted to his strong faith, always taking time to lead family prayers and offer words of encouragement to others.

William Frank is preceded in death by his parents; siblings, Andrew Jackson Braden, Dana Jean Braden, Cora Braden, Seppie Braden, Raymond Braden, Bobby Braden and John Quincy Braden, Jr.; son, Marcus Stone; son-in-law, Walter Vance; and his loving wife of 59 years, Willa Ruth Duke Braden.

William Frank Braden’s legacy will be cherished by his family: his children, Johnny (Patricia) Stone and Sandra Vance; daughter-in-law, Cheryl Stone, Regina Braden and Tracey (Greg) Jasper; grandchildren, LaToya (Thavian) White, Jonathan (Ryane) Stone, Leah (Bobby) McDaniel, Walter (Janean) Vance III, Lydia, William and Natalie Jasper; great-grandchildren, Xavier McDaniel, Colin, Sydney and Emery Stone, Walter IV and Warren Vance; sister-in-law, Alice Braden; and a host of beloved nieces, nephews, cousins and special friends, Tommy McCloud, Calvin and Dee Dee Davis.

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