Thelma E. Turner Woody, 92, of Benton, TN, passed away on Monday, July 23, 2012 at Etowah Health Care after a short illness.
She was a retired CNA with the state of Alabama and Tennessee. She was born in Holly Pond, AL on April 3, 1920. She lived most of her life in Hanceville and Cullman, AL, where she worked with the Cullman and Hanceville Nursing Homes. She was an active member of Antioch Baptist Church of Benton. She enjoyed working with the elderly and enjoyed being a caregiver. She retired for the second time at age 72 from the Life Care Center of Cleveland.
She was preceded in death by her husband, James N. Woody; parents, Otis and Myrtle Tanner Turner; sisters, Elsie Hancock and Evelyn Duke; and step-daughters, Lorene Woody Beard and Golda Woody Jones.
She is survived by her son, James Woody and wife, Mary, whom she made her home with the last few years; daughters, Carole Pirtle and husband, Kenneth of Decatur, AL and Deborah Carver of Benton; step-children, Pauline Woody Barnett of Pinson, AL and Jasper Woody of Benton; siblings, Wanda Knaffl and husband, Reed of Maryville and Bill Barker and wife, Margaret of Sumter, SC; grandchildren, Michael (Joan) Pirtle of Decatur, AL, Teresa (Keith) Jett of Decatur, AL, Jim (Tonya) Woody of Benton, Tim (Amy) Woody of Lakenheath AFB, England, Blake Carver of Benton and very special granddaughter, Anna (Jarrod) Hamby of Benton; six great-grandchildren; three great-great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be conducted at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, July 25, in the chapel of Higgins Funeral Home with the Reverend Ed Eldredge and the Reverend Melvin White officiating. Interment will be held 12 p.m. CST on Thursday, July 26, in Hopewell Cemetery in Hanceville, AL.
The family will receive friends from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, July 25, at the Higgins Funeral Home who has charge of the arrangements.