| Sources |
- [S23] Atchley Funeral Home, (http://www.atchleyfuneralhome.com/), 18 Oct 2000.
Nanie Elizabeth Douglass obituary
- [S23] Atchley Funeral Home, (http://www.atchleyfuneralhome.com/), 2 Oct 2005.
Esta Lee Ford Bales
March 03, 1910 - October 02, 2005
Birthplace: Sevier County
Resided In: Seymour Tennessee
Visitation: October 05, 2005
Service: October 05, 2005
Cemetery: Woodlawn Cemetery
ESTA LEE FORD BALES went home to be with Jesus, her family and friends on October 2nd, 2005. A member of Valley Grove Baptist Church and a lifelong resident of Seymour, “Ford” was born March 3rd, 1910 to David and Martha Etta Ford. The first of five children, she spent her early life working on her father’s farm and taking care of her younger brothers and sister. She and her Dad would take produce to Knoxville via a dirt road that is now known as Old Sevierville Pike. Leaving in the afternoon, they would travel to Knoxville in a horse and buggy, spend the night sleeping under the buggy and sell produce the next day. Esta Lee graduated from Harrison Chilhowee Baptist Academy in 1931 and went on to obtain her teaching degree from Carson Newman in 1937. She taught in one room schoolhouses but when WWII began, she worked at Model Laundry while her beloved husband served in the European campaign. She was an accomplished seamstress and she and her mother supported themselves by taking in sewing during the war. After the war, she taught in the Knox County school system at Klondike Elementary and Galbraith School and retired to her favorite pastimes, including sewing, traveling, visiting friends and relatives and walking. Always full of energy, love and caring, Esta Lee inspired the lives of so many people throughout her teaching career and beyond. She will be fondly remembered and sadly missed by all who knew her.
Preceded in death by her husband, J. Fred Bales, father and mother, David and Martha Etta Ford, infant brothers Carl and Carol Ford, brother David H. Ford, Jr., brother-in-law Roy (Pete) Bales, Paul (Fatty) Mize, sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Nanny and Robert Douglas, sister and brother-in-law Elizabeth and Bill Cruze, and nephew Bill Cruze Jr. She leaves in passing her son and daughter-in-law, Fred and Suzan Bales, nephew Bill Mize and sister-in-law, Mary Mize, nephew and wife Ed and Relda Cruze, Linda Cruze, Rush and Mary Louise Parrott, Charlotte and Donald Proffitt and Eddie Douglas. Special life-long friends, Mayford and Francis Gaylon, special grandchildren, Vivian, John and Derek Slusher, Tim, Maria, Grace and Casey Galyon and Kelly Walters and husband Don.
A special heartfelt thanks is given to Tomi Hutton, New Vistas Retirement Center, for her love, compassion and care for Esta Lee in the past few years and especially in these last few months. Thank you as well to the nurses from Hospice. It is true that God has sent angels to live among us.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to New Vistas Retirement Center, 639 Cummings Chapel Road, Sevierville, TN 37876 or to Covenant Hospice, Fort Sanders Foundation, 1901 W. Clinch Ave., Knoxville, TN 37916-9986.
Funeral service 7 PM Wednesday in Atchley’s Seymour Chapel with Rev. Tim Galyon and Dr. Bobby Tucker officiating. Interment 10 AM Thursday in Woodlawn Cemetery. The family will receive friends 5-7 PM Wednesday at Atchley Funeral Home, 122 Peacock Court, Seymour, TN 37865. (865)577-2807 (www.atchleyfuneralhome.com)
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1910 - 2005 (95 years)