*********IMPORTANT NOTICE*********

Due to the threat of bad weather on Sunday......The Funeral Services for  Mrs. Roddy has been moved from Graveside to ZIon United Methodist Church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Family and friends will gather at the Zion United Methodist Church for the 2:00 PM  Service.

Ida Mildred Shanklin Roddy was born July 24, 1920 near Latham in Weakley County Tennessee, the second (and last) child to Roscoe Shanklin and Charity Jones Shanklin. She died peacefully in her sleep on January 4, 2021 in Yucaipa, California at age 100.

She attended a one room elementary school near her childhood home, Dresden High School, and graduated from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville with a bachelor’s degree in home economics in 1942.

Following one year of teaching high school home economics near Murfreesboro, she accepted a position at Cloverdale High School to teach home economics in the fall of 1943. She continued teaching at the junior high level after Obion County high schools consolidated in the 1960s, completing a 30-year teaching career at Cloverdale before her retirement.

On July 14, 1950 she married Eugene Roddy, a local farmer and businessman whom she had first met in August 1943. To this union were born 3 children - Fairra, Sarah, and David. Her understanding of the important role a mother plays in the life of a child, especially in the early childhood years, led her to take a two-year leave of absence from teaching after each child’s birth to nurture and bond with them.

Drawing upon lessons of hard work and thrift instilled in her as a child growing up during the Great Depression, she was an avid gardener - canning and freezing a large quantity of food each year. By instruction and personal example she passed along her skill and love of cooking to her students and children and taught them to find pleasure in sharing a well-prepared and attractive meal with family and friends.

She was an accomplished seamstress, another skill she learned from her mother during childhood years, developed further in school, and passed along to students in home economics classes as well as to her daughters. 

She was outgoing and friendly toward everyone. Her Christian faith was the lifelong anchor in her soul. Her soft but godly spirit shone out to family, students, co-workers, and neighbors alike. In her last years of life, she frequently spoke of her longing for heaven and her desire to see her Lord.

When, in 2011, it became obvious she and Eugene could no longer live independently in their own home, they moved into an apartment in the Nashville area, wanting to remain as close to “the farm” as possible. 

In 2013 they moved again - this time to the Loma Linda area in Southern California. She spent the last years of life surrounded by and enjoying loved ones in a home environment while receiving the finest care humanly possible from Fairra and Sarah and their families along with some additional paid caregivers.

She was preceded in death by her parents, brother Varon, and Eugene, her husband of 70 years, Eugene Alexander Roddy. She is survived by her three children; David Eugene Roddy of Waverly, Ohio, Fairra Roddy Rustad of Yucaipa, California and Sarah Roddy Giang of Yucaipa, California; numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.   

Graveside services for Mrs. Roddy will be held at 2:00 PM on Sunday, February 28, 2021 at Zion Cemetery. Officiating this service will be Mr. David Roddy and Mr. Harold Roddy. Family and friends are asked to gather at the cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be directed to Zion Cemetery Fund, % Mr. Greg Ervin, 4851 Jim Carver Road, Obion, Tennessee 38240.

Online condolences may be made to the family at johnonwilliamsfuneralhome.com. Johnson-Williams Funeral Home is honored to serve the family of Ida Mildred Shanklin Roddy.

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