Billy Bert Bracken dies at 72

Longtime Rector businessman and community worker Billy Bert Bracken died Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009, at a University of North Carolina hospital in Chapel Hill, N.C. He was 72.

Bracken worked as a clerk at Tidwell Grocery in Rector before purchasing his own business, Bracken Grocery Store, which he operated for years.

He was a fixture at the Rector Labor Day Picnic, operating the novelties booth, and was a founding member of the Rector High School Helping Hands Foundation. He was of the Baptist faith.

Bracken was born June 23, 1937, in Rector to Ethel Bracken Milburn, who died June 13, 1993. He was married to Betty Carol Householder Bracken, who died Aug. 22, 1974. He had lived at Rector Nursing and Rehab in Rector before moving recently to North Carolina.

He is survived by two sons, Terry Bracken and Jeff Bracken, both of Hillsborough, N.C.; one brother, Danny Milburn of Bigelow, and three grandchildren, Alyssa, Mauri and Tyler.

Funeral services were at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29, at Irby Funeral Home Chapel in Rector with Rev. Marston Carpenter officiating. Burial was in Woodland Heights Cemetery with Irby Funeral Service in charge of arrangements.

Pallbearers were Ken Bower, Scott Reynolds, Dennis Collier, Clay Robinson and David Simmons.