JAMES BRASWELL WILLIAMS
August 31, 2018
James Braswell Williams, 93, Norris, died Aug. 29, 2018, at Meadow View Senior Living, Clinton.
Known by family and friends as Jim, he was born on Sept. 15, 1924, in Matthews, N.C., and passed away two weeks before his 94th birthday.
In 1947, after service in the U.S. Army during World War II, he married the former Jean Rea. They were married until her death in 2015. The couple moved to Norris in 1949 and Jim attended the University of Tennessee, where he was awarded a Bachelor’s degree in 1953. This was followed by a Master’s degree in 1956, and a doctorate in Education in 1968. He began a 32-year career as an educator in Anderson County as teaching principal in a two-room school house, Belmont. Subsequently, he served as principal at Norris Elementary, Claxton, Clinton Senior High, Glen Alpine, and Norris Junior High (later Norris Middle School).
During his career as an educator, Jim served twice as president of the Anderson County Parents Association and for 15 years as the legislative chairman of the Anderson County Education Association.
For nearly 60 years, Jim was a devoted member of St. Francis Episcopal Church, where he served as member of the Vestry Committee, a Sunday school teacher, and a member of the choir. He was also an ardent supporter of the Norris Food Pantry, where he spent many hours as a volunteer.
In his retirement, he traveled extensively with his wife and was an avid golfer and fisherman. Jim also continued his charitable activities as a member of the Lion’s Club and its Sight Conservation Committee.
Spiritual, yet irreverent, wise and funny, he will be sorely missed by his survivors: Daughters, Teresa (Ira Hozinsky) and Melissa (John) Tortora; sisters, Linda Forbis of Matthews and Patricia Aycoth of Davidson, N.C.; four grandchildren; and a score of nieces and nephews.
The funeral and scattering of ashes, followed by a reception, will be held at St. Francis Episcopal Church in Norris at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the St. Francis Discretionary Fund or a charity of choice.
www.holleygamble.com
PATRICIA GAIL WOODS RACKLEY
August 28, 2018
“Mother’s hold our hands for a short time, but hold our hearts forever”
Patricia Gail Woods Rackley went to heaven Aug. 28, 2018, at the age of 74 following a long and valiant fight with cancer.
Her family have and always will be her legacy. She leaves behind four children, Teresa Gillard and Franck, Sherri King and Tim, Richard Rackley and Russell Rackley and Sherry; nine grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
She is preceded in death by: Parents the Rev. Truman Woods and Deane Murray Woods Bowyer.
The family will receive friends 5 p.m. - 7p.m. Friday, Aug. 31, 2018, at Ball Camp Baptist Church with the funeral service following at 7p.m.
Graveside service will be at 11a.m. Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018, at Huskey Grove Cemetery, Gatlinburg.
Loudon Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.
TRULA MAE HUMPHREY
August 27, 2018
Trula Mae Humphrey, 88, passed away Monday, Aug. 27, 2018, at Norris Health and Rehabilitation Center, in the caring and loving community of Norris.
From her birth in Anderson County on June 15,1930, to her death Monday she nourished people around her with love, her faith and gospel music. Trula had a passion for bird watching, and being a caretaker for others.
Trula was preceded in death by: Father, Andy Cody; mother, Lola Marie Bell; sisters, Gertie and Bertha Bell; and infant daughter, Ina Ellan Humphrey.
She is survived by: Son, Kenneth Harold and wife Carolyn Joyce Humphrey of Heiskell; brother, Willie Bell; grandchildren, Jody (Kim) Humphrey of Elk Valley, Stacey (Rick) Arneach of Heiskell, Marty (Brooke) Humphrey of Andersonville; six great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; three nieces and one nephew and many friends.
Trula will be remembered as a bright, shining light in various communities and churches.
The family will receive friends from 5 – 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, at Holley Gamble Funeral Home with funeral service at to follow at 7 p.m. with the Rev. Mark Dison officiating.
Her burial will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018, at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church Cemetery.
Holley Gamble Funeral Home in Clinton is in charge of all arrangements. www.holleygamble.com
GENEVA ‘NEVA’ LILLIAN McNEELY (NEE – MEHAFFEY)
August 21, 2018
Geneva “Neva” Lilliam McNeely (nee – Mehaffey), 93, a lifelong resident of Powell, passed away peacefully at her home Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018, with family by her side.
For more than 30 years, Geneva was a member of Beaver Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Born to Walter and Ocie Mehaffey on March 15, 1925, Geneva, whose smile could light up a room, was the youngest of three daughters and a sister to a younger brother. In the eighth grade at Claxton Elementary School, she played as a guard on the Claxton Blue Devils basketball team. Geneva learned to play the mandolin and how to sing in harmony with her two sisters. In the earlier years of Knoxville’s WNOX Mid Day Merry-Go-Round radio program, the sister trio sang as The Mehaffey Sisters. When Roy Acuff left the radio program to pursue a musical career, he tried to recruit the sisters to accompany him to Nashville. Unfortunately, The Mehaffey Sisters’ dreams of becoming country music stars were squelched because their parents deemed them as too young to go. However, the sisters still sang together at family gatherings throughout their lives. Geneva was the first in her family to graduate from Clinton High School where she was recognized as one of the top stenographers and typist in her class. Immediately after graduation, Geneva was employed with an insurance company in Oak Ridge. She worked there until she resigned to help her mother in the family store/diner and where she met her future husband, Ralph McNeely. They were married in 1946 and five years later, had their first child, a son followed by a daughter one year later. In 1952, the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and while there, Geneva had to teach her neighbors how to make cornbread because, being Northerners, they had never tasted or heard of it. The McNeely clan returned to East Tennessee in 1958 where Geneva resumed her secretarial expertise first working for the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and then for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) as a top-ranked file clerk for the General Manager’s Office until she retired from there. After retirement, she and her husband of 68 years traveled throughout the country in their RV. Geneva loved to sew, crochet and work crossword puzzles. She was an excellent cook and made the best tasting chocolate pies and banana puddings ever made. Most important, she was a loving mother and devoted wife who made many sacrifices by placing her family’s needs and happiness above her own. While the Ides of March didn’t work out so well for Julius Caesar, it was one of the best days ever for the McNeely family because it represents the day that one of the greatest wives and mothers was ever born on this earth. Alas, the world has lost someone very special – a truly amazing woman - a Southern lady with a generous heart and a caring soul. She will be greatly missed. While the family mourns the loss of their beloved mother and “Granny”, Heaven has added a sweet member to its choir of angels.
Preceded in death by: Husband, Ralph McNeely; parents, Walter and Ocie Mehaffey; sisters, Lucille Flynn and Glenna Beals; brother, Charles Mehaffey.
She is survived by: Son, Alan McNeely and wife Linda of Powell; daughter, Barbara McNeely and beau Samuel Foust; grandchildren, Alyssa Lopez and husband Steve of Mustang, Okla., Karen Craven and husband Aaron of Winston-Salem, N.C.; great-grandchildren, Vivian Craven and Sheridan Lopez; several nieces and nephews.
The family will receive friends at the Holley-Gamble Funeral Home from 6 – 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018, with the funeral service to follow at 7 p.m. with the the Rev. Thomas Sweet officiating.
Family and friends wishing to attend her graveside service will meet at the Woodhaven Memorial Gardens at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 26, 2018.
www.holleygamble.com
NANCY ALLEY EVINS
August 21, 2018
Nancy Alley Evins, a well-known Middle Tennessee clinical hypnotherapist and frequent newspaper columnist, died Aug. 21, 2018.
She was 83.
A celebration of her life will be held at 3 p.m. Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, at the First Baptist Church in Lebanon, 227 East Main Street. Visitation will be from 1-3 p.m. A sunset graveside service will follow.
Survivors include: Son, Edgar Evins Jr.; daughter, Karlen Rose Evins; and granddaughters, Tiffany Evins Byrd and Shannon McCartney Evins.
She was preceded in death by parents, Carl Milton Alley and Helen Rose Rector Alley.
Mrs. Evins joined the First Baptist Church in Lake City at age six where she worshipped until her move to Lebanon. Years later she joined First Baptist Church of Lebanon, serving as a Vacation Bible school teacher, Sunday school teacher, and various church committees.
A 1952 graduate of Lake City High School, Mrs. Evins was the class valedictorian and voted "Most Likely to Succeed." She also was editor of the yearbook, president of her junior class, the Beta Club, and the 4-H Club, where she won several public speaking awards. Her essay won second prize in the national Beta Club magazine, and was she awarded the DAR award in her senior year; she also was vice president of her senior class.
Mrs. Evins majored in Business at the University of Tennessee, where she was president of the Independent Students Association (ISA), Queen of Spades for the American College of Engineers, and Miss ISA. She was elected to the Business Board and Women Student Government Association and was a member of the U-T Army ROTC.
Mrs. Evins received a master’s degree in theology at Scarritt College and opened a practice of clinical hypnotherapy. She was a frequent columnist for “The Tennessean” and often was a Three-Star letter writer. A Silver Life Master in bridge, Mrs. Evins attended the Vanderbilt Bridge Club until her death.
Mrs. Evins also was an amateur artist who sold some of her oil paintings through Cracker Barrel in the store’s early years. Two of her prized possessions were a poem written for her by renowned poet Ogden Nash and a letter written to her in her college days by Ralph Nader, who commended her on her consistent ethical standards.
LIGON & BOBO FUNERAL HOME, in charge of Arrangements.
www.ligonbobo.com
FRANCES M. BRIDGES
August 21, 2018
On Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018, Frances Bridges, loving wife and mother passed away at the age of 91.
She was born Aug. 16, 1927, to the late George and Myrtle (King) May. Raised in the Wheat Community of Roane County and lived in Kingston most of her life. Frances worked at Burlington and Roane Hosiery, then at K-25 and Y-12 until her retirement in 1993.
Her hobbies were vegetable/flower gardening and enjoying her house and decorating it; cooking and sharing with others.
Preceded in death, in addition to her parents: Sister, Mary Jackson; brother, Howard May.
Leaving behind to mourn her passing: Very best friends, husband, Dempsey Bridges; daughter, Barbara and Ray Ervin; brother, George (Carolyn) May; sister, Priscilla Hamilton; nieces and nephew; special friends for many years, Gladys and Howell Kelly, the Herrons, especially their little boys, Andrew, Jacob and Sam.
Not to be omitted, all the wonderful church family and friends at Liberty Baptist Church that she loved so much.
The family will receive friends from 5 – 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, at Liberty Baptist Church in Kingston with funeral service following at 7 p.m. with the Rev. Randy Griffis and the Rev. Wayne Nelson officiating.
Family and friends will meet at Roane Memorial Gardens at 11 a.m. Saturday Aug. 25, 2018, for interment.
Online register book can be signed at www.FrakerFuneralHome.net. Fraker Funeral Home of Kingston in charge of arrangements.
DANIEL ‘BOONE’ HAWKINS
August 21, 2018
Daniel "Boone" Hawkins, 72, Lake City, passed away Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018, at his residence.
Boone was born in LaFollette to the late Leroy and Leopal Marlow Hawkins on Nov. 19, 1945. Boone was a member of Beech Grove Baptist Church in Lake City. He enjoyed ginsenging and was an avid University of Tennessee Volunteer fan.
In addition to his parents, Boone was preceded in death by: Brother, Genis Hawkins, and David Hawkins; and sisters, Patricia Sandefur, and Betty Lou Hawkins.
Survivors: Wife, Donna Kennedy Hawkins of Lake City; sons, Scotty Hawkins of Lake City, Jason Hawkins and Devonie of Ft. Knox, Ky., Tracy Hawkins of Lake City; brother, Jeff Hawkins and Jeanie of Lake City; sisters, Ralphine Malicoat and Ronnie of Lake City, Della Kitzmiller of Lake City, Becky Quattlebaum and Elmer Bell of Heiskell, Lois Gregg of Powell; grandchildren, Justin, Gabby, Jason, Ladona, Shea, Max, and Danielle; great-grandchildren Kensey, Connor, Lily, and Katie.
Visitation will be from 2 – 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug.26, 2018, at Hatmaker Funeral Home.
Funeral service will be at 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 26, 2018, in the Hatmaker Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Jeff Hawkins, and the Rev. Charlie Mac Marlow officiating.
Family and friends will meet 10:15 a.m. Monday, Aug. 27, 2018, at Hatmaker Funeral Home in Lake City to go in procession to Cumberland Mountain "Swag" Cemetery, Lake City, for an 11 a.m. interment with Military Honors presented by the Campbell County Honor Guard.
DR. GRANT RABURN CARTER
August 20, 2018
Dr. Grant Raburn Carter, 91, Rockwood, formerly of Kingston, went home to be with his Saviour Monday, Aug. 20, 2018.
He was born Aug. 27, 1926, in Newnan, Ga. He was a United States Army veteran who served his country proudly during World War II. He had worked in his younger years as a salesman for Standard Coffee for more than 25 years. Bro. Carter became a missionary and was sent out under the Baptist International Missionary Board. His specific mission field was to the African American community. Bro. Carter became a minister in 1958 and in 1975 he served as a missionary with Baptist International Missions Incorporated (BIMI). In Clinton, Md., he helped plant a church, won many souls to Christ and trained many people in the Word of God. In 1976 DR. Carter heard Gods call to Atlanta, Ga., where he met two young preachers who joined up with him. In 1985 he founded the Baptist International Bible Institute (BIBI). He was founder of Bible Institute in Harriman; former pastor of Swan Pond Baptist Church in Harriman, Gospel Light Baptist Church in Harriman, Tennessee Chapel Baptist Church in Paint Rock and founder ansd former pastor of Community Baptist Church in Lenoir City. Dr. Carter was also owner and operator of WBBX Christian Radio-AM1410 in Kingston until recent declining health. He loved witnessing and sharing the gospel of Christ with everyone he came in contact with on a daily basis.
Preceded in death by: Sons, Grant Randall Carter and Ronnie Stephen Carter; daughter-in-law, Kay Carter; mother of his children, Jean Carter; several brothers and sisters.
Survivors: Children,Terry Raburn Carter of Greenback, Darlene Lands and husband Gary of Rockwood; grandchildren, Brian and Christy Carter, Ben and Tabatha Poland, Brandy and Trevor Poe, Tara Carter, Mandy Lands; great-grandchildren, Lucas Poland, Walter Poland, Landon Watts, Preston Feezell, Olivia Poe, Peyton Poe, Briley Carter, Morgan Wilson; great-great-grandson, Brentley Breazeale; brother, Charles and Betty Carter of Hemet, Calif.; a host of extended family members and dear friends.
The family will receive friends from 5 – 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018, at Fraker Funeral Home with service following at 7 p.m. in the chapel with Dr. Danny Guider and Dr. Dan Tibbs officiating.
Interment will be held at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, at East Tennessee Veterans Cemetery with full military honors conducted by the East Tennessee Veteran Honor Guard.
Memorial donations may be made to Mt. Pisgah Printing Ministry, 115 Old Hen Valley Rd, Oliver Springs, TN 37840.
Online register book can be signed at www.FrakerFuneralHome.net. Fraker Funeral Home of Kingston is in charge of the arrangements.
