Kathryn Stephens was my mother, who I am thankful was able to live 89 years in good health until just the last nine days of her life. She was born in Gainesboro, Tennessee but moved to Nashville at a young age.
Mostly a homemaker, Kathryn did work at Washington Manufacturing Company in Nashville for a few years, where she met my father and married him.
She and my father were married for 59 years, until he passed away in 2011. My sister and I were concerned that she would “give up” after that, but she did just the opposite. Kathryn not only rose to the challenge of being independent, but exceeded it beyond anybody’s expectations.
Up until the last nine days before she passed away, Kathryn lived in the same house that she and my father purchased in 1965. She drove, attended church weekly, worked in her yard constantly, shopped for herself, and seemed genuinely perturbed if anybody ever offered to try and help her do anything.
Her yard was large and looked like it should have been on the cover of Southern Living. She had it full of flower gardens and decorations, which she meticulously maintained and mulched, with never an un-pulled weed anywhere. Her back yard was so big and beautiful that my wife thought it looked more like a community park than somebody's yard!
The one thing she did allow my sister and I to occasionally help with was mowing her grass, which was done with a push mower since there were so many things to cut around. Early last summer, I was intending to go over there and cut her lawn late one afternoon. When I arrived, it had already been cut, and I assumed her next door neighbor and great friend had done it. I asked her about it and she replied, “Well, I didn’t really have anything to do this morning, so I mowed it myself so I could spend more time with you”. We then went inside and there was an unexpected home cooked meal on her table that I could tell took several hours to prepare.
Moms just don’t come any better than mine, and my sister, brother-in-law, wife and I were truly blessed to have had her for a mother and mother-in-law. My wife, my sister, my dog and I were right beside her bed as she passed away, holding her hands and telling her how much we loved her. It was one of the saddest moments of my life, but we are all thankful that we could be right there until the very end to continually tell her how much we loved her.
My mother and father were long time members of the now defunct Central Church Of Christ in Nashville. Kathryn’s daughter and son-in-law attend Tusculum Church Of Christ in Nashville, and her son (me) and daughter-in-law (my wife) attend The Vineyard Church in Franklin.
Some of the things I will miss most about my mom are:
- Her never failing to tell me “I Love You” at the end of every phone call
- How much she loved and cared about my wife
- How generous she always was with her entire family
- How much she enjoyed it when I brought my dog Happy to her house to visit
- The homemade party mix she made every Christmas for my sister and I
- Her genuine excitement and enthusiasm when she was at my house and I showed her a home renovation project I had done
You can also read my father’s Find A Grave memorial at this link (copy and paste in a browser):
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/66527179
********************************
BELOW IS KATHRYN’s OBITUARY
Kathryn Young STEPHENS
STEPHENS, Kathryn Young Age 89 of Nashville, TN.
October 6, 1929 - December 25, 2018.
She was a loving wife and mother and a devout Christian.
She was preceded in death by her husband, James P. “Jim” Stephens.
Survived by daughter, Gail (Ray) Burgess; and son, Michael (Joy) Stephens.
Visitation with the family will be Thursday, December 27, 2018, from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Woodbine Funeral Home, HICKORY CHAPEL, 5852 Nolensville Road, Nashville.
Family and Friends will meet at Harpeth Hills Memory Gardens for Graveside services and interment on Friday, December 28, 2018, at 11:00 a.m., which will be conducted by Ford Holman.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort, Inc.
Woodbine Funeral Home, Hickory Chapel, Directors, 615-331-1952.
(obituary published in “The Tennessean” on Dec. 27, 2018)
Mostly a homemaker, Kathryn did work at Washington Manufacturing Company in Nashville for a few years, where she met my father and married him.
She and my father were married for 59 years, until he passed away in 2011. My sister and I were concerned that she would “give up” after that, but she did just the opposite. Kathryn not only rose to the challenge of being independent, but exceeded it beyond anybody’s expectations.
Up until the last nine days before she passed away, Kathryn lived in the same house that she and my father purchased in 1965. She drove, attended church weekly, worked in her yard constantly, shopped for herself, and seemed genuinely perturbed if anybody ever offered to try and help her do anything.
Her yard was large and looked like it should have been on the cover of Southern Living. She had it full of flower gardens and decorations, which she meticulously maintained and mulched, with never an un-pulled weed anywhere. Her back yard was so big and beautiful that my wife thought it looked more like a community park than somebody's yard!
The one thing she did allow my sister and I to occasionally help with was mowing her grass, which was done with a push mower since there were so many things to cut around. Early last summer, I was intending to go over there and cut her lawn late one afternoon. When I arrived, it had already been cut, and I assumed her next door neighbor and great friend had done it. I asked her about it and she replied, “Well, I didn’t really have anything to do this morning, so I mowed it myself so I could spend more time with you”. We then went inside and there was an unexpected home cooked meal on her table that I could tell took several hours to prepare.
Moms just don’t come any better than mine, and my sister, brother-in-law, wife and I were truly blessed to have had her for a mother and mother-in-law. My wife, my sister, my dog and I were right beside her bed as she passed away, holding her hands and telling her how much we loved her. It was one of the saddest moments of my life, but we are all thankful that we could be right there until the very end to continually tell her how much we loved her.
My mother and father were long time members of the now defunct Central Church Of Christ in Nashville. Kathryn’s daughter and son-in-law attend Tusculum Church Of Christ in Nashville, and her son (me) and daughter-in-law (my wife) attend The Vineyard Church in Franklin.
Some of the things I will miss most about my mom are:
- Her never failing to tell me “I Love You” at the end of every phone call
- How much she loved and cared about my wife
- How generous she always was with her entire family
- How much she enjoyed it when I brought my dog Happy to her house to visit
- The homemade party mix she made every Christmas for my sister and I
- Her genuine excitement and enthusiasm when she was at my house and I showed her a home renovation project I had done
You can also read my father’s Find A Grave memorial at this link (copy and paste in a browser):
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/66527179
********************************
BELOW IS KATHRYN’s OBITUARY
Kathryn Young STEPHENS
STEPHENS, Kathryn Young Age 89 of Nashville, TN.
October 6, 1929 - December 25, 2018.
She was a loving wife and mother and a devout Christian.
She was preceded in death by her husband, James P. “Jim” Stephens.
Survived by daughter, Gail (Ray) Burgess; and son, Michael (Joy) Stephens.
Visitation with the family will be Thursday, December 27, 2018, from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Woodbine Funeral Home, HICKORY CHAPEL, 5852 Nolensville Road, Nashville.
Family and Friends will meet at Harpeth Hills Memory Gardens for Graveside services and interment on Friday, December 28, 2018, at 11:00 a.m., which will be conducted by Ford Holman.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort, Inc.
Woodbine Funeral Home, Hickory Chapel, Directors, 615-331-1952.
(obituary published in “The Tennessean” on Dec. 27, 2018)
Kathryn Stephens was my mother, who I am thankful was able to live 89 years in good health until just the last nine days of her life. She was born in Gainesboro, Tennessee but moved to Nashville at a young age.
Mostly a homemaker, Kathryn did work at Washington Manufacturing Company in Nashville for a few years, where she met my father and married him.
She and my father were married for 59 years, until he passed away in 2011. My sister and I were concerned that she would “give up” after that, but she did just the opposite. Kathryn not only rose to the challenge of being independent, but exceeded it beyond anybody’s expectations.
Up until the last nine days before she passed away, Kathryn lived in the same house that she and my father purchased in 1965. She drove, attended church weekly, worked in her yard constantly, shopped for herself, and seemed genuinely perturbed if anybody ever offered to try and help her do anything.
Her yard was large and looked like it should have been on the cover of Southern Living. She had it full of flower gardens and decorations, which she meticulously maintained and mulched, with never an un-pulled weed anywhere. Her back yard was so big and beautiful that my wife thought it looked more like a community park than somebody's yard!
The one thing she did allow my sister and I to occasionally help with was mowing her grass, which was done with a push mower since there were so many things to cut around. Early last summer, I was intending to go over there and cut her lawn late one afternoon. When I arrived, it had already been cut, and I assumed her next door neighbor and great friend had done it. I asked her about it and she replied, “Well, I didn’t really have anything to do this morning, so I mowed it myself so I could spend more time with you”. We then went inside and there was an unexpected home cooked meal on her table that I could tell took several hours to prepare.
Moms just don’t come any better than mine, and my sister, brother-in-law, wife and I were truly blessed to have had her for a mother and mother-in-law. My wife, my sister, my dog and I were right beside her bed as she passed away, holding her hands and telling her how much we loved her. It was one of the saddest moments of my life, but we are all thankful that we could be right there until the very end to continually tell her how much we loved her.
My mother and father were long time members of the now defunct Central Church Of Christ in Nashville. Kathryn’s daughter and son-in-law attend Tusculum Church Of Christ in Nashville, and her son (me) and daughter-in-law (my wife) attend The Vineyard Church in Franklin.
Some of the things I will miss most about my mom are:
- Her never failing to tell me “I Love You” at the end of every phone call
- How much she loved and cared about my wife
- How generous she always was with her entire family
- How much she enjoyed it when I brought my dog Happy to her house to visit
- The homemade party mix she made every Christmas for my sister and I
- Her genuine excitement and enthusiasm when she was at my house and I showed her a home renovation project I had done
You can also read my father’s Find A Grave memorial at this link (copy and paste in a browser):
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/66527179
********************************
BELOW IS KATHRYN’s OBITUARY
Kathryn Young STEPHENS
STEPHENS, Kathryn Young Age 89 of Nashville, TN.
October 6, 1929 - December 25, 2018.
She was a loving wife and mother and a devout Christian.
She was preceded in death by her husband, James P. “Jim” Stephens.
Survived by daughter, Gail (Ray) Burgess; and son, Michael (Joy) Stephens.
Visitation with the family will be Thursday, December 27, 2018, from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Woodbine Funeral Home, HICKORY CHAPEL, 5852 Nolensville Road, Nashville.
Family and Friends will meet at Harpeth Hills Memory Gardens for Graveside services and interment on Friday, December 28, 2018, at 11:00 a.m., which will be conducted by Ford Holman.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort, Inc.
Woodbine Funeral Home, Hickory Chapel, Directors, 615-331-1952.
(obituary published in “The Tennessean” on Dec. 27, 2018)
Mostly a homemaker, Kathryn did work at Washington Manufacturing Company in Nashville for a few years, where she met my father and married him.
She and my father were married for 59 years, until he passed away in 2011. My sister and I were concerned that she would “give up” after that, but she did just the opposite. Kathryn not only rose to the challenge of being independent, but exceeded it beyond anybody’s expectations.
Up until the last nine days before she passed away, Kathryn lived in the same house that she and my father purchased in 1965. She drove, attended church weekly, worked in her yard constantly, shopped for herself, and seemed genuinely perturbed if anybody ever offered to try and help her do anything.
Her yard was large and looked like it should have been on the cover of Southern Living. She had it full of flower gardens and decorations, which she meticulously maintained and mulched, with never an un-pulled weed anywhere. Her back yard was so big and beautiful that my wife thought it looked more like a community park than somebody's yard!
The one thing she did allow my sister and I to occasionally help with was mowing her grass, which was done with a push mower since there were so many things to cut around. Early last summer, I was intending to go over there and cut her lawn late one afternoon. When I arrived, it had already been cut, and I assumed her next door neighbor and great friend had done it. I asked her about it and she replied, “Well, I didn’t really have anything to do this morning, so I mowed it myself so I could spend more time with you”. We then went inside and there was an unexpected home cooked meal on her table that I could tell took several hours to prepare.
Moms just don’t come any better than mine, and my sister, brother-in-law, wife and I were truly blessed to have had her for a mother and mother-in-law. My wife, my sister, my dog and I were right beside her bed as she passed away, holding her hands and telling her how much we loved her. It was one of the saddest moments of my life, but we are all thankful that we could be right there until the very end to continually tell her how much we loved her.
My mother and father were long time members of the now defunct Central Church Of Christ in Nashville. Kathryn’s daughter and son-in-law attend Tusculum Church Of Christ in Nashville, and her son (me) and daughter-in-law (my wife) attend The Vineyard Church in Franklin.
Some of the things I will miss most about my mom are:
- Her never failing to tell me “I Love You” at the end of every phone call
- How much she loved and cared about my wife
- How generous she always was with her entire family
- How much she enjoyed it when I brought my dog Happy to her house to visit
- The homemade party mix she made every Christmas for my sister and I
- Her genuine excitement and enthusiasm when she was at my house and I showed her a home renovation project I had done
You can also read my father’s Find A Grave memorial at this link (copy and paste in a browser):
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/66527179
********************************
BELOW IS KATHRYN’s OBITUARY
Kathryn Young STEPHENS
STEPHENS, Kathryn Young Age 89 of Nashville, TN.
October 6, 1929 - December 25, 2018.
She was a loving wife and mother and a devout Christian.
She was preceded in death by her husband, James P. “Jim” Stephens.
Survived by daughter, Gail (Ray) Burgess; and son, Michael (Joy) Stephens.
Visitation with the family will be Thursday, December 27, 2018, from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Woodbine Funeral Home, HICKORY CHAPEL, 5852 Nolensville Road, Nashville.
Family and Friends will meet at Harpeth Hills Memory Gardens for Graveside services and interment on Friday, December 28, 2018, at 11:00 a.m., which will be conducted by Ford Holman.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort, Inc.
Woodbine Funeral Home, Hickory Chapel, Directors, 615-331-1952.
(obituary published in “The Tennessean” on Dec. 27, 2018)
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