My sweet mother, Lucille Nunn Lyne of Russellville, passed away last Saturday at the age of 98. My sister Lucianne, and I were there at her bedside when she took her last breath. Mother lived an incredible life with much joy and love, and also, at times, terrible tragedy. She redefined Steel Magnolia. Loving, giving, gracious and still tough as nails. Whatever came her way, she was able to bounce back with a strong Christian faith and an amazing inner strength and attitude.
She was an only child whose mother died soon after childbirth. Her dad died of tuberculosis when she was seven years old. An aunt and uncle raised her in Denver. Summers were spent with her grandmother on a family farm in West Tennessee.
She was preceded in death by my stepfather, Jim Lyne, and my older brother Jeff and sister Donna.
She is one of the last of the World War II generation. My father graduated college in 1942 and they were married in 1943 when he was finishing up training to be an underwater demolition Naval officer. He served in the South Pacific from 1943-1945. My mother had my older sister Donna in 1944 and managed to go back to UT, with a young child, and graduate while my dad was still overseas.
Being a University of Tennessee graduate, she was a lifelong UT fan until the day she died. She got a good start as the football team was recognized as national champs her freshman year of college in 1940!
There is a song by her favorite singer, Nat King Cole, titled “Love is the Thing.”.] I have never known anyone who embodied that better than Mother. She was always thinking of others and would do anything for family, or people in need. Until the age of 91, she would drive to Nashville about every other week to see all the family, and her car was always loaded down with homemade soups, casseroles, canned goods and other yummy food for us.
She drove her car faster than a bat out of Hell and still wore high heels on occasion until her early 90’s.
She worked tirelessly over the years to raise money to help the small Episcopal Church in Russellville where she attended. The people of the church there were like a second family to her. On her 98th birthday on Sunday, Dec. 12, a number of people from the church came after the service and sang Happy Birthday to her outside her house.
She was a tough disciplinarian as a parent when my sister and I were young, but she always gave us space to live our lives and grow from our mistakes. We could, and sometimes would, argue with her, but there was something about her that kept us from ever being disrespectful.
I will dearly miss hearing her cheery greeting on the phone, “Hello Darlin”, on our daily phone calls. And it will be tough not seeing her on Sunday afternoons, and over a pre-dinner Vodka tonic ( her favorite ), catching up on the events of the week and telling her about the grandkids.
She played bridge twice a week right up until two years ago when Covid hit. Great, fun group of ladies that kept each other young.
It is a great comfort knowing that Mother is with the Lord. She was as fine a Christian lady as there has ever been. Instead of saying bye or goodbye, Mother would most times say, “Love, love.” To you Mother, your family says one final “Love, love.”