Franklin County Citizen Editor Denise Matthews Loses Battle With Cancer

Funeral services are set for this morning in Lavonia for long-time Franklin County Citizen editor and reporter Denise Matthews.

Matthews passed away Friday afternoon after a long battle with cancer.

Matthews had served a reporter and later as the editor of the Franklin County Citizen since 1994.

Denise was known for her witty columns about her life and family and interesting feature articles that typically spotlighted a local citizen.

During her long career, Denise won many awards for her articles and last week, Franklin County Citizen publisher Shane Scoggins gave her the honorary title of Editor Emeritus after Matthews announced her retirement.

On Sunday, hundreds turned out to Ginn Funeral Home in Carnesville to express their condolences to the Matthews family; many were local city and county officials who had worked with Matthews for years, including former Royston City Manager Greg Scott and his wife, who drove up from Florida to pay their respects.

Scoggins tells WLHR News he is working with the Franklin County school system to come up with an annual writing competition in Matthews’ honor.

Funeral services are set for today at 11a at Lavonia First Baptist Church.

Denise Matthews was 58.