DELOS WAYNE WALKER

Delos Wayne Walker, age 75, of Shady Valley, Tennessee, passed away on Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at the Bristol Regional Medical Center.  A native of Shady Valley, Delos was born on February 25, 1936 to the late Charles Russell and Nye Walker.  In addition to his parents, Delos was preceded in death by a sister, Lenna Flora. 

Delos loved farming and was known locally for his large, beautiful bean fields.  He also enjoyed shooting matches and more than anything, he loved spending time with his family.

Delos was a member of Harmon’s Chapel Christian Church and was a United States Army Veteran.

He is survived by his wife of 16 years, Rachel Walker; daughters and sons-in-law:  Sherry and Ben Wheeler of Shady Valley, TN and Dawne and Lynn Minks of Mountain City, TN; son, Tommy Walker of Mountain City, TN; step sons:  William Bishop and wife Lonna of Nicholasville, KY and David Bishop and wife Tracy of Jonesborough, TN; brother and sister-in-law, N.J. and Joyce Walker of Shady Valley, TN; step grandchildren:  Rachel Bishop, Dylan Bishop, Bobby Bishop and Madison Bishop; special nephew, Elijah Haynes; several nieces and nephews and many, many friends.

The funeral service was held at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, October 21, 2011 at Harmon’s Chapel Christian Church with Ministers Howard Taylor and Jim Hutchinson officiating.  Special music was provided by Narrow Road.  Graveside Service and Interment were conducted at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, October 22, 2011 at Shady Valley Memorial Gardens.

Pallbearers were Lonnie Long, Lowell Hutchinson, Huey Long, Tommy Hutchinson, Kody Hutchinson and Mike Averill..

Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.mountaincityfuneralhome.com

The family of Delos Wayne Walker has entrusted his services to Mountain City Funeral Home, 224 S. Church St., Mountain City, TN  37683.

CLINT HOWARD

Once called a “national treasure” for his old time mountain music singing, song writing, storytelling and playing, Clint Howard died at his home with his family at his side October 16, 2011. He was 80 years of age.

Mr. Howard had learned how to sing from his mother when he was 6 years old, and over the course of his lifetime, he entertained tens of thousands of people. He performed at venues ranging from Carnegie Hall and the Newport Folk Festival (in the 1960s), to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and the World’s Fair in Knoxville, Tenn., in the 1980s. In the 1990s and into the 2000s, Mr. Howard played either alone or with Doc Watson and others at Merlefest in North Wilkesboro, N.C. He also performed at Studio One at ETSU’s public radio station WETS; the Down Home in Johnson City; Old Butler Days; and at the Cranberry Festival in Shady Valley, Tenn.

In addition, the Johnson County, Tenn., native played his guitar, sang his songs and shared his jokes and old time stories with residents at area nursing homes and assisted living facilities. And in 2004, he took time from tending to his cattle and land to teach old time mountain music to at-risk young people enrolled in the Optional High School in his home county. A CD titled “Passing It On” emerged from that experience.

Mr. Howard, whose work is credited with influencing such internationally renowned musicians as Bob Dylan and the Kruger Brothers from Switzerland, performed at Carnegie Hall with Fred Price, Clarence “Tom” Ashley and Doc Watson. He once appeared on the Pete Seeger Show with Price and Watson. For many years, he performed at community centers, retirement homes, churches, festivals, fiddler’s conventions, at colleges and universities and other venues with his late son Clarence Howard, his grandson Garet Howard and long-time friend Jack Proffitt. The group was known as the Clint Howard Band, and its musical legacy will live, some believe, forever.

The Kruger Brothers (Jens Kruger, Uwe Kruger, Joel Landsberg) loved dearly to visit Mr. Howard in his home on Antioch Road in Johnson County; they said their own music was rooted in his work. “Clint Howard has been known to us as one of the most respected and influential personalities in American musical history,” they wrote. “His groundbreaking recordings of classic American folk repertoire have been cornerstones for countless musicians and audiences throughout the world. It is our humble belief that Clint Howard deserves to be recognized as one of the nation’s greatest treasures.”

Mr. Howard always seemed to have a twinkle in his eye and loved to make people laugh. Before he and his band performed, it often fell to him to prime the audience with a funny tall tale or to reminisce about what life use to be like in the hills and hollers of Johnson County when he was a boy. He often shared that he learned from his beloved mother how to sing and vary his pitch and tone; this was a key to creating the power and range of his voice. “It didn’t make any difference what time of the night that was,” he once told an interviewer. “Me and her would just go to singing songs out of the song book or gospel songs, or just whatever. Me and her’d sing sometimes till one or two o’clock in the morning.” One of his most popular ballads, “Light in the Window,” came directly from that mother/son bond, and may have been his favorite of the dozens that he and others have created.

“His natural way with songs and stories is more of a born gift than an acquired skill,” said Robert Cogwell, director of the Tennessee Arts Commission Folklife Program.
Mr. Howard was a welder at the shipyard in Newport News, Va., and also at Maymead, where he retired in 1990. He also worked as a school bus driver.

He cherished his family and his community and always took care of his cows. He fiercely took objection to anyone who criticized Johnson County in even the slightest way. He loved its rugged mountainous terrain, its people and its bedrock values of the Ten Commandments, loyalty to the U.S. military and to the American flag.

He thought he was truly blessed to have been born and raised and to have lived nearly all his life in The Third community of Johnson County.

In his cowboy boots, jeans and a John Deer cap tilted slightly on his head, and with his wife Betty nearly always next to him, he was frequently seen around Mountain City behind the wheel of a pickup truck. He kept a close eye on his beef cattle, tending to them day and night, and helping deliver many a newborn calf in some of Johnson County’s most ferocious blizzards.
A member and choir leader of Antioch Baptist Church and a staunch Republican, Mr. Howard served several terms as a Johnson County commissioner. More recently, and up until his death, he was a Johnson County highway commissioner.

He was preceded in death by his parents, George and Lizzie Howard; by his brother Clyde Howard and by his sister Ida Greer. Also preceding Mr. Howard in death were his son Clarence Howard, son-in-law Sam Robinson and grandson Mitchell Howard.

Survivors are: his wife Betty Snyder Howard; daughter Patsy Robinson Timbs and husband Larry; son Ray Howard; daughter-in-law Glenda Howard; grandsons Garet Howard, Brad Howard and Clint Robinson and wife Shannon; granddaughters Sandra Howard McCloud and husband Larry, Rachel Robinson Shearin and husband John, Ashley Howard and Hana Howard. Also surviving are great grandchildren: Travis, Hank and Portia Howard; Will and Leah McCloud; Blake and Weston Robinson; Taylor, Hannah, Samantha and Jessie Shearin.

Funeral services were conducted at 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, October 18, 2011 from the Charles B. Hux Memorial Chapel of Hux-Lipford Funeral Home with Pastor Ray Vaught and Pastor Steven Spencer officiating.

Active pallbearers were grandsons.

Honorary pallbearers were Tri State Staff and Employees and Johnson County Highway Road Department Committee. Graveside service and interment were held in Reece Cemetery at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, October 19, 2011.

Online condolences may be sent to the family through our website at www.huxlipfordfh.com.

Hux-Lipford Funeral Home is serving the Clint Howard Family.

RUTH MARIE DOLINGER PAISLEY

Ruth Marie Dolinger Paisley, age 92, of Mountain City, Tennessee, went home to be with her Lord on Sunday, October 16, 2011 at the Sycamore Shoals Hospital.  She was born on February 16, 1919 to the late Garney and Blanche Hodge Dolinger.  In addition to her parents, Ruth was preceded in death by her husband, Wilder Paisley. 

Ruth is survived by three sons and daughters-in-law:  Joseph Frank Paisley and wife Barbara of Mountain City, TN, Howard Lee Paisley and wife Arlene of Seford, DE and Richard James Paisley of Unionville, PA and ex-wife Esther of Lancaster, PA; four grandsons:  Joseph Dean Paisley, Mark Allan Paisly, Brian Paisley and Jamie Paisley; lots of great grandchildren and several other family members also survive.

No public services will be held.

Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.mountaincityfuneralhome.com

The family of Ruth Marie Dolinger Paisley has entrusted her services to Mountain City Funeral Home, 224 S. Church St., Mountain City, TN  37683.

RUBY J. GARLAND

Mrs. Ruby J. Garland, age 83 of 763 Doe Creek Road, Butler, TN passed away on Saturday October 15, 2011 in the Watauga Medical Center, Boone, NC. She was a native of Freebon, KY, a daughter of the late Millard and Anna Belle Corum McCoy. She was a member of the Little Doe Baptist Church. Mrs. Garland loved cooking for her family and reading. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Sanford Garland in 1989 and brothers Junior and James Mc Coy and five other siblings.

Survivors are: 1 Daughter, Darlene Guinn Young and husband Jerry, Hampton, TN; 3 Granddaughters, Kimberly Greene, Neila Guinn Carr, Beth Guinn and husband Garney Gillenwater; 9 Great grand children, Kristin White Dickens, Chase Campbell, Chad Carr, Allison Carr, Dylan Gillenwater, Lucas Gillenwater, Olivia Guinn, Cerri Bradley, JayLin Bradley; 1 Great Great Grandson, Brayden Dickens; 1 God-Granddaughter Linda Bradley; 2 Sisters, Colleen Fletcher, and Magdalene Cook; 6 nieces and 3 nephews. Also surviving are her dearest friends, and neighbors, Greg and Karen, Forrest and Brittany, Preston and Crystal, Dean and Megan, Derek, Laura, Martina, Brooklyn and Shay Visser, John and Holly Melendez, and Kris Morris Ferguson. Special thanks to her sister-in-law Dean Garland and nephew Wes Garland, who along with the Visser family and Kris, responded to her every call and need. Mamaw Ruby will be remembered especially for her quirky sense of humor, tenacity, and Sunday dinners. Everyone was welcome at her table, which was filled with huge country meals, home made yeast rolls and sweet tea.

Services for Ruby J. Garland were conducted at 7:00 PM Wednesday October 19, 2011 from the Hero’s Chapel of the Johnson County Funeral Home with Rev, Kreg Smith, Forrest Visser and Dean Visser officiating.

Music was by Derek Visser.

Pallbearers were Randall Fletcher, Ron Carr, Wes Garland, Chad Carr, Greg Visser and Elwood Arnold.

Honorary pallbearers were Jerry Young and Garney Gillenwater.

A private graveside service will be held at the Rock Springs Cemetery at a later date.

Condolences may be sent to the family at www.johnsoncountyfuneralhome.com

Johnson County Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.

MINDY HARMON

Miss Mindy Harmon, age 23, of 240 Bill Wallace Lane, Trade, Tennessee, passed away on October 14, 2011 at her residence following a 3^rd battle with cancer. She was born on November 17, 1987 in Boone, NC. She was a member of Evergreen Baptist Church in Trade. Mindy graduated from Johnson County High School in 2006. She was a student at Appalachian State University when she was diagnosed with Neuroendocrine cancer. Mindy received a Bachelor of Science degree in History with a minor in Sociology on August 4, 2011.

Mindy’s hobbies were scrapbooking, sketching, and reading. She was interested in genealogy and enjoyed researching her family’s roots. Mindy loved to attend plays and perform in plays and dreamed of becoming a history teacher one day.

Survivors include her mother, Jewel Ward Harmon; her uncle Rick Ward of Boone; her grandmother, Willa Jean Ward of Vilas; and three aunts, Jamie Smith of Mobile, AL,  Dr. Robin Brooks of Olive Branch, MS, and Bet Dotson of Sugar Grove, NC.

She was preceded in death by an infant sister, Michelle Harmon; her father, Michael Luther Harmon; a grandmother, Maudetta Harmon; and her grandfathers, N.T. Ward, Jr. and Lloyd Luther Harmon.

The funeral service was held at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, October 17, 2011 at Evergreen Baptist Church with Rev. Tony Potter, Rev. Derick Wilson, and Rev. Ray Branch to officiate. Special music was provided by Rev. Tony and Cheri Potter, Rick Ward, and the Evergreen Baptist Church Choir.

Graveside services and interment followed the funeral service at Trade United Methodist Church Cemetery.

Active pallbearers were: Steve Arnold, John Price, Brandon Adams, Mark Wallace, Chris Roberts, and Doug Roark.

Honorary Pallbearers were: Dr. Anna Sobel, Gail Redwine, Beverly McKinney, Pam Margolis, Cheri Potter, Norma Roark, Joann Main, and Kisha Bunten.

The family suggests that memorials be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105, Relay for Life of Johnson County, or any Ronald McDonald House.

Condolences may be sent through our website at www.mountaincityfh.com