City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation

Obituary
Frances (Fran) Taylor Martin

Raleigh, North Carolina

Age 76.
Died 12/09/2021.

Frances (Fran) Taylor Martin
Frances (Fran) Taylor Martin, retired nurse and beloved mother and grandmother, died on December 9, 2021, in Raleigh at the age of 76.

Fran was born in 1945, in Franklin, North Carolina. She graduated from Franklin High School in 1964. She was a student athlete at FHS, playing basketball all four years, lettering in the sport she loved, and serving as co-captain of the team.

In her desire to help others after high school, especially those who were vulnerable, Fran completed Asheville-Buncombe Technical Institute’s Practical Nursing program in 1965. Later in her career while working as a full-time LPN, she resumed her pursuit of higher education and earned an Associate in Applied Science degree in Nursing from the University of the State of New York in 1994, to gain the role and title of Registered Nurse (RN). Fran worked as a nurse for nearly 40 years before retiring in 2005.

Fran began her nursing career as a public-school nurse, but spent most of her time caring for others at a large hospital (Eastside Medical Center) in Georgia, which she made her home state in 1984. Fran’s patients often wrote heartfelt letters of gratitude to her before leaving the hospital to thank her for the compassion, encouragement and understanding she showed them, and for making them laugh. (She always loved to “cut up,” so to speak.) Fran would even offer help to her patients outside of her role as their nurse if she knew they needed it and believed she could make a difference. One of many examples is when she learned an elderly patient who had lost his wife was struggling to keep his garden and began to stop by his home after long shifts at work to weed, water and maintain it for him.

Fran was proud to be a nurse, but nowhere near as proud as she was to be a mother. Becoming a mother was Fran’s greatest wish and proudest achievement, bar none. She adopted her daughter, Sherry, in 1970, bringing the baby girl home from foster care and giving her a name and a family. And like these stories sometimes go, just two years later she was infinitely blessed with another precious baby – a little boy who she was miraculously able to carry and birth on her own. Despite being born prematurely, her son, Chad, thrived. Fran loved her children unconditionally and her faith and confidence in them was unwavering and inspiring.

Fran’s children were her greatest love, but other things that brought her joy were dogs, bowling, cross stitching and college sports, especially basketball and football. Fran was a member of bowling teams and leagues in Franklin and Georgia. Fran also played mom to three toy poodles over the last four decades, Sundance, Smokey and Bella, and they were spoiled rotten! She took them everywhere with her. And Fran was a die-hard Georgia Bulldogs fan, often cross-stitching in her recliner or on the couch with a poodle in her lap in front of a game on T.V. She never missed one if it was televised and attended more than one in Sanford Stadium in Athens. She would pull for other teams in unity with friends and family she loved – as long as they were not playing against the Dawgs! She enjoyed watching football so much that she would sometimes attend local high school games near her home to cheer from the bleachers.

Fran was the personification of strength, perseverance and resilience. In addition to unconditional love and her faith in them, it’s her greatest gift to her children. Having witnessed her overcome seemingly insurmountable odds and unfathomable hardships time and again, they know what is truly valuable during life on Earth and how to fight for it, over and over again, with everything you have in you.

Fran would simply want to be remembered by friends and family as a “good person” – honest, hardworking like her mother, caring and capable.

Fran is survived by her two children, Sherry Bradley Melton (Ken) of Garner and Chad Edwin Bradley (Abby) of Lebanon, TN, and three grandchildren, Abigail Renee Melton, Raegan Taylor Bradley and Barrett Mac Bradley, who lovingly called her “Nanny Fran” and “Nanny Boo.”

A memorial service will be held by her children at a later date. In lieu of flowers or to honor Fran, her children ask that you consider donations to the Eastern North Carolina or Western Carolina Chapters of the Alzheimer’s Association.

For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.


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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.

Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.

Our Promise

Apples to Apples

Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.


The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.

Genuine Care

We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.


Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.


We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.

State Wide

Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.


Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.

Our Services

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Direct Cremation

$1196.75

Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.

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Cremation with Solidified Remains

$2875.66

We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.

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Cremation with Visitation

$1917.84

City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.

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Traditional Funeral

$6081.48

We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.

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Immediate Burial

$2497.50

An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.

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Green Burial

$3033.75

This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.

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Aquamation

$2640.59

As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.

City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremations