Lois Reynolds

Long-time Paris resident Lois Doughty Reynolds passed away on February 10, 2014 after a prolonged illness.  A Silent Partner in Furniture Exchange, Co. with her son and store manager Mike Reynolds, Ms. Reynolds died at the age of 83 after enduring over fifty years of severe asthma and increasingly multiple other maladies.

Born on December 5, 1930 in what was known as “Graystown” (a rural community now at the bottom of Kentucky Lake), Ms. Reynolds grew up in a loving, very close family of three daughters, her mother (former teacher/then homemaker, the late Cozie Futrell Doughty) and her father (a L&N Railroad worker, the late Elbert S. Doughty).  Her family moved often (Louisville, Puryear, Paris, Henry), with she and her sisters attending several schools along the way.  She graduated from Henry High School in 1948 and then began studying to be a Registered Nurse at the then Nobles Hospital of Paris.  Near the end of her preparation, she met and married the late Edward L. Reynolds, to whom she was married for 37 years.

While she was sick off and on her entire adult life and probably spent in total over two years of her life in the hospitals of Paris, Jackson, Nashville, and Memphis, Ms. Reynolds still found time to develop many interests and skills.  She was an outstanding cook and known for her decorated, four-layer cakes; her decadent fudge and brownies; and especially for her vanilla/chocolate pinwheel cookies.  She loved setting elaborate tables for entertaining her family at holidays; and the Super Bowl parties she hosted for her son Mike and his friends are still renowned.  She was also skilled in many decorative arts (decoupage, flower-arranging, shadow-box creations, etc.) as well as creative sewing of kids’ and grandkids’ Halloween/party costumes.

The key joys of Ms. Reynolds’ life were her sons Eddie & Mike and their families.  Her life was often centered in making their lives the best she could.  Nothing gave her more happiness as her grandkids were growing up than to spend hours working puzzles, playing games, looking at photo albums, or cooking together.

Ms. Reynolds is survived by her two sons and their families: Mike Reynolds of Paris and son Matt Reynolds of Murfreesburo and daughter Katie Reynolds of Paris; Eddie Reynolds and his husband Ed of Palo Alto, CA and sons Joshua, Eli, and Jonathan Reynolds, all of the San Francisco Bay Area, CA.  She is also survived by her sister Kathy Magann and her husband Tom of Pinole, CA as well by many wonderful nieces and nephews of Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, and California.

She was also preceded in death by a sister Edna Lee Tapp.

He body is to be cremated with a memorial visitation Thursday February 13, 2014 from 5 – 7 pm at Ridgeway Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions to to St. Jude Children’s Hospital 501 St Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 in memory of Ms. Reynolds.

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