Lena Frances Moody DeLoach was born on August 13th, 1920 in Pulaski County, Kentucky, the daughter of the late Robert Lafette Moody and his wife Aleatha E. Tolley. Her mother died when she was 8 years old, so she helped raise her younger brother and sister.
She grew up during the Great Depression, and her family moved several times between Kentucky and Tennessee seeking employment. In 1938, she met and married Javan Astor "Mike" DeLoach in Johnson City, Tennessee. Over the next 25 years, they had five children: Michael in 1938, Craig in 1940, Eric in 1947, Joseph in 1960 and Jane in 1963. She liked to tell people that she had children in school for over forty years, Michael starting school in 1943 and Jane getting her masters degree in 1987.
Lena and her husband loved the outdoors, taking frequent hikes in the mountains with their children. She also enjoyed Sunday car rides and picnics, and she dearly loved her farm.
Lena was a traditional stay at home mother for most of her life. She was a Den Mother for Pack 38, sponsored by the Calvary Presbyterian Church. In 1959, they bought a farm in the Fairview community of Washington County, Tennessee. There, the family became members of the Fairview United Methodist Church.
After her youngest children were in elementary school, Lena got a job in the cafeteria at Jonesborough Middle School. During that time, she went to night school and got her high school GED diploma. After getting her diploma, she worked in the math learning lab at Jonesborough Middle School. Her husband Mike DeLoach predeceased her in 1996. Left to grieve her passing are her five children, nine grandchildren, thirteen great-grandchildren and one great-great-granddaughter.
Mom, 1929
Mom, 1938
Pop and Mom, 1938
Mom, 1939
Mom, 1942
Mom, 1943
Mom and Eric, 1948
Mom, 1950
Pop and Mom, 1954
Mom and Jane, 1963
Mom and Jane, Joe, Eric, Craig, Michael, 1963
Eric, Mom, Jane and Joe, 1967
Mom and her great grandson Ian, 1982
Pop and Mom at his 50th High School Reunion, 1986
Mom and Pop, 1992