Gertrude Johns

Mrs. Gertrude Johns Mrs. Ardis Gertrude Smith Johns, 88, died Wednesday, March 10, 2004 at her residence on the Nashville Highway. Funeral services will be conducted at 11 a.m., Saturday at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home with Rev. Ray Newell officiating. Burial will be in Polk Memorial Gardens. The family will visit with friends Friday from 3-6 p.m. at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to Riverside United Methodist Church. Notes of sympathy may be sent to the family at www.oakesandnichols.com. The Giles County native was the daughter of the late Emory Owen Smith and Maude Loyd Smith. She was married to Lennie Johns from 1946 until his death in 1988. During World War II she was a "Rosie the Riveter" building airplanes in Detroit, Michigan. She was a former member of Giles County Historical Society. Mrs. Johns was an active member of Riverside United Methodist Church. Survivors include two sons, Darrell (Anne) Johns of Cookeville, Lawrence (Joy) Johns of Brentwood; three grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by two sisters, Mrs. Evelyn Gray and Miss Julia Smith. Pallbearers will be David Mason, Bob Murphy, Leslie Clark, Jr., Eddie Knox and Charles Sanders. Honorary pallbearers will be James Minitra, Jim Young and members of the Fellowship Sunday School Class at Riverside Methodist Church.