Elizabeth Harp

Frankfort – Elizabeth Ellen Chinn Harp “Beth,” age 76, passed away at home on Saturday, April 20, 2019.
Visitation will be from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23, 2019, at Harrod Brothers Funeral Home in Frankfort, Kentucky. Services will be held at Harrod Brothers Funeral Home from 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, April 24, 2019, with Rev. George Darnell from West Point Baptist Church, in Matanzas (Centertown), Kentucky. She will be interred at the Sunset Memorial Gardens Cemetery.
Beth was born in Centertown, Kentucky – her parents were Archie and Anna Lee Graves Chinn. Beth was raised in Centertown, Kentucky and graduated Valedictorian from Centertown High School. She then attended and graduated from Western Kentucky University, acquiring a Bachelor’s Degree and later graduated from Kentucky State University earning a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs. She worked most of her professional life with the Kentucky State Health Department where she managed the Kentucky Metabolic Screening Program.
After retirement, Beth pursued her passion with local history and authored three significant publications: “Torn Asunder,” chronicled 50 letters written between two brothers from Centertown during the Civil War; “Just Yesterday We Were Children” catalogs an exhaustive 1251 page history of Centertown, Kentucky. Her last publication covered the Bi-Centennial history of neighboring town Hartford, Kentucky.
Beth is survived by her husband of 40 years, Gary Raymond Harp; her two sisters, Jo Gardone and Mike, of Midway, Kentucky; and Amy Shultz and David, of Centertown, Kentucky; daughter, Julie Suzette Blackburn and her husband, Paul Nowacki, of Lexington, Kentucky.; son, David Scott Blackburn, of Louisville, Kentucky; grandchildren, Mark Blackburn, of Louisville, Kentucky; Mary Beth “Molly” and Michael McCuistion, of Cincinnati, Ohio; and their mother, Alice Blackburn. Beth was also blessed with two great-grandchildren, Joshua and Elena McCuistion, of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Beth was preceded in death by her parents, and oldest sister, Margaret Ann Chinn Igleheart.
In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may be made in her name to the West Point Baptist Church, c/o David Shultz, 3773 State Rt. 85W, Centertown, Kentucky 42328.
Arrangements are under the direction of Harrod Brothers Funeral Home.