Leola L. Dawson

Leola L. Dawson, age 95, of Kingsport, passed away on Sunday, September 27, 2015, at Wexford House after an extended illness. She was born in 1919 and spent her early life in Bluefield, West Virginia, until moving to Kingsport in 1947. Leola was an honor graduate of Beaver High School.

She enjoyed making crafts and clothing and was a skilled seamstress. Leola sewed for many years for family, neighbors and friends. She was active in the PTA and had served as president of the Sullivan Elementary and Sullivan High School PTA. Leola was also a substitute teacher from 1955 to 1962.

She was a charter member of the former Central Presbyterian Church where she served in various offices and as a Sunday School teacher for 27 years. Leola was church historian for more than 30 years. Since 1985 she had been a member of Reedy Creek Presbyterian Church, where she served as a Sunday School teacher and circle chairman.

Leola was a dedicated homemaker, a devoted wife, grandmother and great-grandmother. She was married for 66 years to the late Verl E. Dawson.

She was preceded in death by her husband in 2005; her parents, J. Walter Lester and Bessie C. Lester; her two sisters, Mildred Cregger of Bluefield, West Virginia, and Betty Patteson of Greensboro, North Carolina; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

Leola is survived by her son, Ralph E. Dawson and wife, Juanita; daughter, Shirlene Brooks and husband, James Brooks, Jr.; four grandchildren, Emily Dawson-Falin and husband, Jim of Atlanta, Georgia, Jamene Brooks-Kieffer and husband, Robert Kieffer, Jr. of Lawrence, Kansas, James (Jim) Brooks, III, and Jodie Brooks of Kingsport; two great-grandchildren, Clara Brooks-Waller and Pearl Brooks-Kieffer; three nieces and two nephews who are very special; and several cousins.

The family will receive friends 12-1:00 p.m. Friday (Oct. 2, 2015) at Hamlett-Dobson Funeral Home, Kingsport.

Services will follow at 1:00 p.m. at the funeral home with Rev. Marshall Steinle officiating.

Burial will follow the service at East Tennessee Cemetery.

The family would like to extend a special thank you to the staff of Wexford House who cared for Leola Dawson in her years there.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to Reedy Creek Presbyterian Church, 6044 Orebank Rd., Kingsport, TN 37664.

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