Edna Ruth Eastes Duncan was born in 1922 and passed away of natural causes on January 25, 2024, at the age of 101 after a long and joyful life.
She is survived by her daughter Sandra Dianne Duncan and predeceased by the love of her life Hickman Enloe Duncan to whom she was married for 68 years until his death at age 95 in 2009.
She was also preceded in death by parents Ora Mae and Sanborn Eastes, sisters Lena Don Eastes Smith (Fred) and Reba Mae Tomes (Tommy).
She had three nieces whom she claimed as her children, Priscilla Eichler (Renald), Teresa Stamps (George) and recently deceased Cynthia Harr (Paul). There are many great nieces and nephews plus cousins too numerous to name whom she loved dearly and looked forward to seeing on many family occasions. Her incredible caregivers aptly named Band of Angels, Monica Smith, Dana Puckett, Whitney Puckett, and Tamika Phillips, enriched and lengthened her life with their loving kindness.
When she was eight years old, her family moved from Bristol, Tennessee to Nashville’s Historic Edgefield and she became a longtime member of Edgefield Baptist Church. She attended Warner Elementary School. In 1938 at the age of 16, she graduated from East Nashville High School where she was Salutatorian and voted Most Likely to Succeed.
Her first job at age 15 was working on Saturdays at Hollywood Photography Studio in the downtown Arcade hand tinting photographs. Her first full-time position was at the former General Shoe Company, now Genesco, in the import department where she was also a shoe model because she wore their 4 1\2 sample size!
She took every cooking and sewing plus tailoring class offered by Watkins Institute, which became Watkins College of Art and Design and is now part of Belmont University. She was a fabulous cook, constantly testing and sharing recipes. She designed and made all her and her daughter’s clothes including coats for over 20 years.
When Metropolitan Nashville Government was formed in 1963, she worked approximately 10 years in both Chancery and Circuit courts for two judges, preparing dockets and swearing in witnesses for probate, adoption, and divorce matters.
When her husband formed Duncan Sporting Goods Company and later All-American Liquidators Inc., a hotel/motel furniture liquidating company, she served as his business partner and financial manager for both companies. They had furniture sales all over the United States from California to Florida and even Panama, turning each one into a mini vacation!
She was an avid University of Tennessee sports fan, wearing orange on football and basketball game days as a spirited cheerleader for the Vols. Her other passions included birding, gardening, hiking, and walking Nashville’s many greenways.
Visitation will be graveside at 1:00 pm Friday, February 2, followed by a 2:00 pm graveside service at Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home & Memorial Park, 660 Thompson Lane, Nashville, Tennessee 37204, (615) 383-4754. https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/nashville-tn
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Greenways for Nashville, PO Box 196340, Nashville, Tennessee 37219-6340.
For more obituaries visit https://davidsoncountysource.com/obituaries/
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