Shirley Jean (Abernathy) Hackworth, 89, of Franklin Furnace, Ohio, passed away on Thursday, July 24, 2025 at Southern Ohio Medical Center Hospice in Portsmouth, Ohio. Shirley was born August 21, 1935, in Greenup County, Kentucky, daughter of Lawrence D. and Maggie Abernathy.
She married Delbert “Frank” Hackworth in 1955, and he survives her. She was born in the Riverview neighborhood of Russell, Kentucky, but after the 1937 flood they moved to Etna Street in Russell, where she spent her childhood.
After graduating from Russell High School, she attended Ashland Business College, and then worked for Ashland Oil Company for a period of time after her marriage. Later, after her children were grown, she returned to Ashland Oil for several years.
She was a member of Plymouth Heights Church of the Nazarenein Franklin Furnace. After several years in the Ashland, KY area, she and Frank moved to Franklin Furnace in 1965, raising their children there. Surviving are her husband, Frank Hackworth of Franklin Furnace; three sons, Tim (Lisa) Hackworth of Albany, Ohio; Gary (Heather) Hackworth of Greenup, Kentucky, and David (Rita) Hackworth of Covington, Kentucky; four grandchildren, Brittany (Tyler) Thompson, Cassidy Hackworth, Brooklyn Hackworth, and Alex Hackworth; two great-grandchildren, Baileyand Emmit; and a brother, Dale (Phyllis) Abernathy of Lexington, Kentucky. Services will be 11:00am on Monday, July 28, 2025 at Harrison-Pyles Funeral Home in Wheelersburg, Ohio. Burial will follow at Haverhill Cemetery, Haverhill, OH. Friends may call at the funeral home at 10:00am prior to the Service. In lieu of flowers, the family wishes that donations be made to Southern Ohio Medical Center Hospice, in memory of Shirley.
