Shelby Jean Ledford, 82, of the Ranger community, passed away Friday, March 18, 2022, at Life Care Center of Copper Basin in Ducktown, Tenn.
She was born in the Isabella community to the late Oliver Kimsey and Nellie Johnson Duvall.
Shelby was a long time member of Temple Baptist Church, where she served as a deacon’s wife, Sunday school teacher and nursery attendant.
She loved to sew and quilt. She also served others by being a gracious host feeding people at her table from around the world. As she loved to garden and cook, many people enjoyed the fruits of her labor.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Bobby Miles Ledford; one brother and his wife, Norman and Madeline Duvall; her brother-in-law, Larry Woodring; and nephew, Scott Mathis.
Survivors include her children and their spouses, Debbie and Steve Whitener of Ranger, Linda and the Rev. Don Padgett of Isabella, Tenn., Lester Paul Ledford of Granite Falls, Minn., and Timothy Miles Ledford of South Carolina; sister, Mary Sue Woodring of Sylva; grandchildren and their spouses, Stephanie and Casey Jennings, Rachel Whitener, Andy and Mary Padgett, Amanda and Travis Sinard, Andrea and Robert Woody, Anna and Dylan Raper, and Kayla and Hunter Robinson; great-grandchildren, Ethan McLean, Lilly Padgett, Nathaniel Padgett, Abbie Sinard and Sammie Sinard and Cassie Sinard; Nana’s other children of her heart, Lauren Ledford, Gracie Ledford, Sarah Ledford, Anna Kate Ledford and Jacob Ensley; and nieces and nephews, Janie, Becky, Marina and Pam.
Funeral services were conducted at 2 p.m. Monday, March 21, from Temple Baptist Church in Murphy, with the Revs. Wayne Morgan and Don Padgett officiating. Music was provided by Rose Jones, Norma Wallace, Stacy Bandy and Jenna Sneed. Interment followed in the church cemetery with the following gentlemen serving as pallbearers: Andy Padgett, Travis Sinard, Robert Woody, Mark Elliot, Dylan Raper and Joshua Bandy. Selected to serve honorary pallbearers were her two great-grandchildren, Ethan and Nathaniel, and the Honorable Men of Temple Baptist Church.
The family received friends at Temple Baptist Church prior to the service from noon until 2 p.m.
For those desiring, memorial contributions may be made to Temple Baptist Church Missionary Fund, 11 Simonds Chapel Road, Murphy, NC 28906; or to Gideons International online at gideons.org.
Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.akinsfuneralhome.com.
Akins-Cobb Funerals & Cremations in Copperhill, Tenn., was in charge of the arrangements.