Obituary of Mary Will Hale

Mary Will Hale, age 91, of Dunlap, TN died Tuesday morning November 11, 2008 in an area hospital. She was born in 1917 to Lee Anderson and Ruby Farmer Henson, a self-sufficient farm family in the Elm Hill Community. She was preceded in death by her husband of 50 years, Ralph "Skinny" Hale. She is survived by son Harmon Lee Hale and wife Ann; grandsons Ralph and Eli; brother-in-law Roy Joe Walker and wife Sarah Jo, all of Dunlap; sisters-in-law Virginia Hale of Dayton and Katherine Hale of Anna Maria, Florida; first cousins Ruby Dobson and Louise Armstrong, Dunlap and Wilma Bramble, Red Bank; double first cousins once removed Mary Ross Hixson, Murfreesboro and Nola Miller and Nina Jo Smith, Red Bank. Several nieces, nephews and other extended family also survive. Mrs. Hale was a member of the Church of Christ. She graduated from Middle Tennessee State University and was retired after 35 years of teaching. Her first teaching experience was at the Elm Hill School. She walked to school, leaving before daylight carrying a coal oil lantern, in order to fire the stove and warm the building in the winter. After her father died, her mother and she operated the family farm with the help of several different families and individuals. Later she taught Home Economics at Sequatchie County High School and sponsored the Future Homemakers of America chapter there. She and Mr. Hale spent many hours on the road taking "her girls" to various FHA events. Mary Will lived through the "great depression," helping her parents produce their own food, sew their own clothes and linens and helping neighbors help themselves with community events such as cannings, quiltings, and harvestings. Her later community activities included serving as a volunteer for the American Cancer Society, chair of the Sequatchie County Farm Bureau Women, working with the Sequatchie County Fair and the Home Demonstration Clubs, and belonging to the Sequatchie County Retired Teachers and the American Legion Auxiliary. She was an avid gardener and hard worker with her husband and son keeping the family farm going. She took great pleasure in keeping and providing a loving home and being a gracious hostess to many friends and family. Visitation will be Thursday, November 13 from 4:00 to 8:00 PM, CST and Friday, November 14 from 3:00 to 9:00 PM, CST. Services will be Saturday, November 15 at 11:00 AM, CST in the Funeral Home Chapel with ministers Roy Clark, Freddie Clayton and Sheldon Barker officiating. Burial will follow in the Chapel Hill Cemetary, Dunlap. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Heart Association; the National Cancer Institute (www.cancer.gov) or the Sequatchie County Cancer Support Network. Arrangements by Putnam-Standefer-Reed Funeral Home, 50 May Road, Dunlap.