Jo Ann Stewart

Jo Ann Henry Stewart

By Susan & Angela Stewart

Jo Ann Henry Stewart was born on September 29, 1933 in Paducah, KY where her father Clinton Dewell Henry Sr worked at a bakery.  Her mother was Carrie Lee Doran Henry Jurney.

Her father was from Monterey, TN on the Cumberland Plateau.  He met Carrie while Granny was with her father Will Doran on a Sales trip to Putnam County.  They married on February 11, 1929 and had 3 children: Wanda Jean Henry Ottenstror, Clinton Dewell Henry Jr (who died May 1, 1932 at 8 months old), and Jo Ann.   Her father died at the age of 24 following a Motorcycle accident on Sep 2, 1935.

Carrie then met Buford Oren Jurney when introduced by her cousin Vance Clemons and they married July 15, 1937 at Nobel Park in Paducah. Buford was in the Navy and they moved many places.  Buford then partnered with Blake Stewart to run Stewart Grocery in Osage known to many as Cooley’s Grocery.  Blake had a son J B and that’s how Mom met Dad.  They married April 9, 1950 in Henry County.  Daddy Blake and Dad moved a 2 room house from the Oak Hill area to its present location just north of the Henry County Airport on 69N onto a farm they just bought.  There Mom & Dad, who died in 2006, farmed and raised 4 children: Jimmy (Martha) Stewart, Susan Stewart, Jerry (Betty) Stewart and Angela Jo (James) Hinton.

Mom graduated as Valedictorian Class of 1951 Cottage Grove High School.  She played basketball as a forward on one of the most successful teams at CG with her best friends Robbie Wilson Hodges, Mary Parrish, Joan Kennedy McWherther, Betty Ridgway Grooms, Martha Ross Callicott, June Davis Howard and others.  The Class of 1951 was very special to her and she enjoyed helping to plan their annual reunions.

Mom loved birthdays and Christmas.  She always made sure we had a big Christmas with all we could wish for.  She was a great cook and would have big family dinners especially when her family from Monterey and Aunt Wanda would come to town.

Mom particularly loved to garden for as long as we can remember.  She had a big rose garden with so many varieties and always so pretty.  In later years, she joined Master Gardener Club, tended 2 corners on the Court Square, and tended rose gardens at the Paris Landing Inn.  Many will remember seeing all her flowers at her home on West Wood St.

Mom worked many places besides working on the farm.  She started substituting at Cottage Grove school and with her 1 ^st money there bought her 1 ^st clock after which see collected hundreds.  Also at Cottage Grove she helped to coordinate the 8 ^th grade graduations.  Her work history included Super Sweet Feeds in Memphis, Uncle Lees in Paris, Holley Carburetor, started at Rhea Library when at the current location of Paris City Police, Tayloe Hancock, Wyatt Owen Construction, cleaned houses, baby sit and had her own Wallpapering business.  When we would drive around town, Mom would point to all the businesses & homes she had papered which seemed like half of Paris.  She papered at Ridgeway Funeral Home, McEvoy Funeral Home, Best Western, East Wood Clinic and many prominent homes in Paris and surrounding counties.  Mom was very proud of her wallpapering jobs and glad to have so many happy customers.

Mom was a collector of antiques, helped me recording cemeteries, enjoyed traveling, loved her dogs and walking all over town.

She has 7 grandchildren: Wendy (Micheal) Barnhart, Kris (Jason) Moore, Michael (Angela) Stewart, Tracie (Jeremy) Kitchens of Lewisville, AR, Blake (Audra) Stewart, Clover Cook Paradise of Franklin, and Mandy Cook (Luka) Barlic of Henry County.

5 Great-Grandchildren: Kara, Noah, and Logan Barnhart, James Luke Moore, and Alex Diaz Jr all of Henry County, one niece: Lee Ann Ottenstror of San Antonio, TX and Uncle Cordell (Shirley) Henry in North Carolina.

She is preceded by fathers: Clinton Dewell Henry Sr and Buford Jurney, her mother Carrie Jurney, sister Wanda, brother Clinton Dewell Jr, nephew Glen Ottenstror and J B Stewart.

Heartfelt thanks to her very special caregivers: Mandy Cook Barlic, Angel Travis Stewart, and Rose Thornton who were with us every minute and the Avalon Hospice group.

Visitation will be at Ridgeway Funeral Home from 4 – 7 pm on Friday January 29, 2016 and will continue on Saturday from 9 – 11 am at Cottage Grove Church of Christ with the Funeral Service to be held at 11:00 am Saturday at Cottage Grove Church of Christ.  David Alan Jackson will officiate.   Pallbearers will be Jason Moore, Michael Stewart, Micheal Barnhart, Blake Stewart, Jeremy Kitchens, and Luka Barlic.   Burial will follow in Walker Cemetery.

Memorials may be made to the Church of Christ of your choice or Hoof Beats of Hope, 840 Osage Crossland Rd., Puryear, TN  38242 .