Catharine Browder Ledbetter

View Funeral Webcast Catharine Browder Ledbetter, 73, died Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at her residence. Born May 16, 1936 in Nashville, she was the daughter of the late William Hall Browder and Mary Florence Smith Browder. Her early education began in Belle Meade at the Parmer School where many of her lifelong friendships started and still remain with "The Lunch Bunch". She later attended and was a graduate of Harpeth Hall School where she was a member of SAP. After finishing at Harpeth Hall she attended Vanderbilt University where she met and married her husband of 50 years, the late Marshall P. Ledbetter, Jr. She was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi Soroity while at Vanderbilt. Her love of the outdoors and horses spanned her lifetime and was also shared with her family. She spent many hours hunting and fishing with her father as a little girl and was later a devoted camper at Camp Nakanawa. Her love for horses was furthered nurtured with her husband and her children on their farm in Columbia where they raised Palomino Quarter horses for a number of years. A devoted wife and mother, she worked alongside her husband in the family moving and storage business and was a great source of love, support, inspiration, and teacher of many of life's lessons to her three children. She was active in community affairs as a member of The Ladies Hermitage Association, James K. Polk Memorial Association, and Maury County Chapter, APTA. While being the busy mother to three young children that were attending Columbia Military Academy she co-chaired the CMA Benefit Ball in 1977. She served on the Board of the Maury County Heart Association and was a graduate of one of the first Leadership Maury classes. Survivors include her children, William Browder Ledbetter, Marshall Powell Ledbetter, III., Mary Kate (James) Barr all of Columbia; grandchildren, Catharine Ann Ledbetter, William Joseph (Joey) Ledbetter; brother, William (Elnel) Browder of Freeport, ME; nieces, Emily Browder (Tom) Forti of St. Paul, MN, Hannah Browder of Boston, MA; great-niece, Isabella Forti of St. Paul, MN, the Ben Moss family, the Joe Harry Smith family, the Joe B. Browder family, the John C. Browder family, the Gary C. Ledbetter family, and Dan Buckner family. Special friends include past and present employees of Victory Van Lines - VIP Moving and Storage of Tennessee, Nancy and James Walker, Marshall Cranford, Lola Trimble, Brenda and Mike McClure, Paula and Al Kirwan, Meredith Hogan Ledbetter, Mary Lucy Fuqua, Linda Walter, Jennifer and Merve Lougue, Paulette and Ashley Brown, Dr. Lucy Ledbetter, Danielle Stanley, Kathy and Glen Hasse, Pam Stovall, Billie and Ray Cherry and the Tennessee Titan family. Thank you to Dr. Steve Woodley, Dr. Houston Jameson, Dr. Mark Messenger, nurses and staff at Maury Regional Oncology. Much love goes to her "Lunch Bunch"; Betty Brothers, Gertrude Caldwell, Gene Elliott, Allister Estes, Kib Huddleston, Peggy Warner, Martha Winston, Mary Alice Quinn, Ellen Martin, Mandy Barbara, Berenice Denton, Bebe Harton, Kay Lazenby, Gardner Smith, Ann Wells, Judy Reed, Ginger Driver, and Judy Britton. Funeral services will be conducted Friday, June 19th at 1:00 p.m. at St. Peter's Episcopal Church with the Reverend Richard Zalesak officiating. Burial will follow in St. John's Episcopal Churchyard at Ashwood. The family will visit with friends Thursday, June 18th from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Oakes & Nichols and from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in St. Peter's Parish Hall. Memorials may be made to St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 311 West 7th Street, Columbia 38401; St. Judes Children's Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis 38105; or American Cancer Society, PO Box 22718, Oklahoma City, OK 73123-1718. Notes of sympathy may be sent to www.oakesandnichols.com.