Gladys Brown Renfro

View Funeral WebcastGladys Brown Renfro, age 91, lifelong resident of the Hampshire Community, passed away peacefully Monday, March 16, 2015 at her home surrounded by family and friends.Funeral services will be conducted Friday at 2:00 p.m. at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home with Rev. Mike Gillstrap and Rev. Tony Brown officiating. Burial will follow in Pisgah Cemetery. The family will visit with friends Thursday from 4 - 8:00 p.m. at the funeral home. The family requests memorials be made to Pisgah Cemetery Fund, c/o Billy Walker, 4161 Biffle Lane, Hampshire, TN 38461. Condolences may be offered online at www.oakesandnichols.com. The Maury County native was the daughter of the late Herbert Brown and Josephine Patton Brown Peery. She was married to the late Billie "PeeWee" Renfro for sixty two years until his death in 2004. Gladys loved spending time in her flower garden where a weed was her worst enemy. For many years she and her husband raised several hundred varieties of irises, welcoming visitors each year when they bloomed. She was an excellent cook especially known for her fried peach pies and caramel pies. She enjoyed sharing that gift with others. It has been said that she never knew how to bake just one pie. Gladys enjoyed all types of needlework especially quilting. She pieced and quilted many quilts and requested that all of her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren receive a quilt. She had just begun cutting pieces for a new quilt when she became ill. She was a friendly, outgoing person who never met a stranger and was always able to strike up a conversation with someone wherever she went. She will be forever missed by her friends and family. Gladys was a member of the Hampshire Methodist Church, accepting Christ and joining the Church at the age of nine. At the time of her death she was the oldest living member and quite possibly the longest ever having been a member for over eighty-one years. She is survived by a son, Everette (Janet) Renfro of Culleoka, grandchildren, Renee (Bob) Bowser of Fairview, Mike (Carolyn) Renfro of Cookeville, Melody (David) Huckaby of Spring Hill; step-granddaughter, Melanie (Mark) Evans of Columbia; great grandchildren, Will (Megan) Bowser, John Bowser, Savannah Huckaby, Brittney Huckaby; step-great grandchildren, Landon Evans, Corbin Evans; great-great grandchildren, Rylee Bowser, Robbie Bowser; brother, Richard (Ruth) Brown of Columbia; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Norma Jean Renfro Vick, brothers, Patton Brown, W.R. "Bill" Brown, sister, Marie Holden and by her step-father, Ernest Peery. Active pallbearers will be Mike Renfro, Will Bowser, John Bowser, Ricky Brown, William Brown, Walker Brown, Bobby Brown and Wendell Spears. Honorary pallbearers include Jane and Gene Quarles, Doris and Massie Davis, Janet and Phillip Griffith, Julie Gillstrap, Judy Baxter, Reba Savage, Andrew Griffith, Matthew Griffith, Annie Mai Brown, Linda Whiteside, Sandra and Blair Pogue, Marsha and Wynn Varble, Brenda Baxter, Billy Walker, Bonnie and Gary Riley, Betty and Ray Holden, Linda McCord, staff of Linda Norton's State Farm office, Shirley Spears, Marty and Cathy Newson, Ronnie and Renee Hinson, Patsy and Farris Grimes, Susan Bonds, Sarah Posey, Patricia and J.T. Duncan, Betty Patton, and Dr. Shawn Gentry. The family expresses their thanks to Tammy, Brenda and Pam of Caris Health Care and special gratitude to Janet Griffith whose help and dedication made it possible for Gladys to fulfill her wish to spend her final days in the home she and Bill built and moved into sixty-five years ago.