Our mother, Patty Ann Waldron Riheldaffer, 88, passed away peacefully at home on Thursday, November 9, 2023. She was born in English, West Virginia to the late Carl and Naomi Waldron.
Most of her early years were spent in West Virginia and Kentucky, and thankfully so. She met the love of her life, our father, at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, and they were blessed with 66 years of marriage.
Shortly after they were married, the young newlyweds moved to Chattanooga. After many years in Brainerd, and a brief time in St. Louis, Mo., they settled on Signal Mountain for their remaining years.
She was a member of Signal Mountain Presbyterian Church since 1972, where she was involved in many areas of service. One of her favorite roles was teaching the five-year-old Sunday School class because of their honesty and how much she learned from them!
Her faith and family were of the utmost importance in her life. We could always count on her and she was involved in every aspect of our lives.
She was an avid volunteer. She was a Bible School teacher, Brownie/Girl Scout leader, Erlanger Hospital Auxiliary volunteer, Home Room Mom many times throughout our school years, Signal Mountain Library volunteer and many more that are too numerous to list. One of her favorite volunteer jobs was writing the monthly newsletters at Signal Mountain Junior High School, because it fulfilled her dream of being a journalist. She only worked outside the home after we were grown because of her dedication to always being present for her family.
She enjoyed reading, singing (she performed many solos in choral productions in her high school years), watching Kentucky basketball, horse races at Keeneland (she loved to hear the sound as they came down the home stretch), playing Jeopardy, and being a prayer warrior for her family and friends.
We are grateful to the Lord for blessing us with our beautiful mother. She was also a treasured grandmother and great grandmother, lovingly called Nanmama, and always felt like the children in the family were “hers”. We are also grateful for the devoted wife she was to our father.
Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, William H. Riheldaffer, Jr.; a baby granddaughter, Erin Olivia Dunn; and brothers, Carl Waldron, Jr., and Mose Waldron.
She is survived by her daughters, Terri (Charles) Sanders and Linda (Stuart) Dunn; son, William H. Riheldaffer, III; granddaughters, Lindsey (Jeremy) Kaylor and Lauren Dunn; grandsons, William Sanders and Alex Dunn; great grandsons, Dylan and Landon Clarke; brother, Donald Waldron; sisters-in-law, Mary Gillespie and Lou Waldron, and several nieces and nephews that she loved very much.
A graveside service was held on Thursday, Nov. 16, and officiated by Rev. Margaret Ferguson.
Memorials can be made to the American Heart Association or St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
Arrangements are by the North Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, Crematory, and Florist, 5401 Highway 153, Hixson, TN 37343.
Please share your thoughts and memories at www.chattanooganorthchapel.com.