Gladys Blackburn

Gladys Molene Ray Blackburn was born May 15, 1923 in Jackson County to Jim and Leona Ray. She passed away Friday, February 10, 2017.
Gladys was preceded in death by her husband of 44 years, Carl Blackburn in 1986 and eleven brothers and sisters.
She is survived by son Jackie Ray Blackburn, daughter-in-law Zan Blackburn, granddaughters, Cheryl (Mark) Erwin and Jennifer (Jason) Duff, great grandchildren, Abigail, Andrew, Addie Mae Erwin and Hayden and Mary Duff.
Gladys was a retiree of Dupont. Gladys for those of you that don't know was not only a charter member of Good Shepherd UMC, but she was also a member of our mother church Shepherd Hills UMC. Allen Weller, her former pastor said that she always stood strong through thick and thin during this time at Shepherd Hills UMC, through the in between two years at the school and then into the days of Good Shepherd as we started on New Shackle Island. Gladys will be missed by many and touched many over the years. And now she has entered and joined the Saints of Light. Well done good and faithful servant. Please pray for Jackie and Zan and the rest of the family in the days to come.
As all of us have favorite things to do in life, Gladys had her favorites too. Some of those were cooking for her family. Some of her specialties were her pear preserves, fried chicken, fried potatoes, buttered sugar toast and her orange cake. Her favorite color was red. In fact, she loved red so much, her entire kitchen was red, even the ceiling. She cared very much how her yard looked. She always wanted it clean, raked and manicured. She took great pride in its appearance.
Gladys will have a Celebration of Life at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, February 14th at Cole & Garrett Funeral Home Chapel in Goodlettsville with Rev. Allen Weller, Rev. Jeremy Squires and Rev. Louise Cole officiating. Place of rest will be at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens. Serving as Active Pallbearers will be Jason Duff, Mark Erwin, Andrew Erwin, David Ray Young, Victor Woods and Ricky Ray. Honorary pallbearers are Charles Swift, Tim Garrett, Bradley Ray, Season Shepherds from Good Shepherds UMC, Randy Ray and Wayne Ray.
Visitation will be Monday 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Cole & Garrett Funeral, 127 North Main Street, Goodlettsville, Tennessee 615-859-5231