Thelma Grace Grayson, 89, formerly of Russellville, passed away Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020. Born Jan. 7, 1931, she was the only daughter of the late John W. and Ostia Cooper Tinsley.
Thelma Grace, who was raised in the Bucksville area of Logan County, graduated from Chandlers High School. She married Neal Gaston Grayson on Dec. 24, 1948 and they lived on their Coopertown Road farm until they moved to Russellville. They owned and operated three farms, Grayson Farm Service and Grayson Feed and Seed, where Mrs. Grayson worked as bookkeeper at both store locations.
She was a Sunday School, Training Union and Bible School teacher at Center Baptist Church while raising her family. She and her husband became members of Dunmor Baptist Church when they began spending weekends at their home on Lake Malone and then members of Second Baptist Church when they moved to Russellville. Her current membership was at Woodlawn Baptist Church.
Mrs. Grayson was a member of the Russellville Chapter of the Kentucky DAR and various Logan County Homemakers Clubs. She was an excellent cook, talented seamstress and spent countless hours canning and freezing from their large gardens, fruit trees, strawberries and wild blackberries. She and her husband were members of the Russellville County Club where she spent many happy hours playing golf with him, her friends and family. She and her husband traveled extensively across the United States while enjoying winter trips to Florida and excursions to Mexico and the Bahamas.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 62 years, Neal; her brothers, John Nowlin Tinsley, Warren Landrum Tinsley, Aubrey Louis Tinsley and Dewey Wendell Tinsley; and her grandson, Adam Smith.
She is survived by her children, Alice (Ted) Flener of Borden, Ind., Anna (Michael) Porter of Louisville and Larry (Kathy) Grayson of Auburn; her brother, Glenn (Sybil) Tinsley of Auburn; her grandchildren, Emily Grayson of Bowling Green, Rebecca Grayson of Winchester, Va., Brennan Smith of Cincinnati, TJ Flener of Clarksville, Ind., Kevin Flener of Louisville and Gwynne Leslie Aidala; her great-grandchildren, Trey Smith, Ty Aidala, Briley Aidala,;her sister-in-law, Maryland Anderson; hwe brothers-in-law, Herald Grayson, Maurice (Zettie) Grayson and Kermit Wayne (Imogene) Grayso; and, numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29, at Summers and Son Funeral Home with Bro. Mike Brady and Bro. Kenny Chyle officiating with burial to follow in Maple Grove Cemetery. Visitation at the funeral home Saturday will be held from 11 a.m. until the service hour.
Memorial donations may be made to the Bucksville Cemetery or the American Heart Association. Envelopes will be available at the funeral home.