Velma Boggs Bentley, 79, of Franklin Furnace, died May 30, 2008, at SOMC Hospice in Portsmouth.

Born Dec. 22, 1928, in Carter County, Ky., a daughter of the late John P. and Samantha Barker Boggs, she was a devoted wife and mother, and had attended Jeanetts Creek and Sandhill Christian Baptist churches.

She is survived by three sons, John Bentley, Bennie Bentley and Gary Bentley; seven daughters, Marcella Dodson, Kathleen Castle, Ella Mae Prater, Norma Baldwin, Cassie Austin, Patricia Moore and Brenda Gleim; one brother, Alley Boggs; 21 grandchildren; and 33 great-grandchildren.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Stewart Bentley, whom she married on April 2, 1945, in Greenup, Ky.; grandson, Arlie Stewart Castle; four brothers, Dock Boggs, Hughie Boggs, Willard Boggs and Ralph Boggs; and four sisters, Mary Porter Isabelle Whit, Mattie Boggs and Hattie Copley.

Funeral services will be conducted 11 a.m. Wednesday, June 4, 2008, at Harrsion-Pyles Funeral Home in Wheelersburg, with Pastor Ronnie Blevins officiating. Burial will be in Clapboard Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday and one hour before the service Wednesday.

6/2/08