Lenora Stephenson

Completed arrangements are being announced for Lenora (Spellings) Stephenson, 97, of Union City, who died June 14, 2024.
Services will be 1 p.m. Friday, June 21, 2024 at White-Ranson Funeral Home and burial will follow in East View Cemetery. Roger Shock will be officiating.
Family will receive friends from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the funeral home on Friday, June 21, 2024.
Family and friends will serve as pallbearers.
Mrs. Stephenson was born in Bells, Tenn., February 18, 1927, one of four daughters of the late Robert and Florence Spellings. She and her three sisters enjoyed growing up in a small town and made life-long friendships with an active neighborhood of fun-loving boys and girls.
She graduated from Bells High School in 1945 and attended Southwestern College (Rhodes College) in Memphis, where she was a member of Kappa Delta Sorority. In 1950, she married her sweetheart and love of her life, the late Bill Stephenson. They were married for 63 years. They moved from Memphis to Union City in 1954.
Music was very important in her life. In high school, she was always ready and willing to play for different classes when they had Chapel program and needed a piano player. She taught piano lessons in Bells and Union City for 10 years. She also played for several Assisted Living groups in Union City. She started very early as a pianist for the Margaret Carter Class at First Methodist Church and continued that position into her 90’s.
Lenora had been an active member of First United Methodist Church, serving on several committees throughout the years and teaching third-grade Sunday School for many years. She was a long-time member of United Methodist Women (UMW). She was a member of Third Review Club of Union City and a 40-year volunteer at Baptist Hospital Auxiliary, where she served as President for three years. She was a faithful election poll worker, a Girl Scout leader, and worked with and supported the Community Concert Association.
But above all she was a loving wife and mother. She loved her husband and family more than words can express. She enjoyed camping in their RV and they spent many happy winter months in Florida and met many good friends there as well.
In addition to her parents, Lenora was preceded in death by her husband, Bill Stephenson; and sister, Elsie Petty.
She is survived by daughters Pat Stephenson of Union City and Lisa (David) Gamble of Franklin, Tenn.; son Alan Stephenson of West Orange, N.J.; grandchild Raphael Stephenson of West Orange, N.J.; sisters Barbara Williams of Savannah, Tenn., and Harriett Wilson of Gleason, Tenn.; and various nieces and nephews.

The Messenger Online/6.16.24