Granny and Lucky a few years ago
William Henry “Lucky” Jenkins Obituary
William Henry “Lucky” Jenkins 78, of the Hot House/Ranger community, died January 26, 2025 from an extended illness. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Patricia Ann Ledford Jenkins; three daughters, Monica Harrison and husband, David of Murphy, former Cherokee Scout Editor Christina Hughes Koontz and husband, David of Jasper, Georgia and Becky Nicks and husband, Timothy of Ormond Beach, Florida; four granddaughters, Ann Marie and Katelyn Cochran of Murphy, and Elizabeth and Kimberly Nicks of Ormond Beach; one great grandchild Delilah Mae Lee of Murphy; sister Louzine Wilson of Brasstown; brother-in-law Gary Ledford; and numerous nieces; nephews; and cousins in North Carolina, Michigan, Ohio and the Southeast.
Born at home on April 17, 1946, Lucky graduated from Hiwassee Dam High School in 1964 and was a Vietnam War Veteran, serving the Army in Germany. After leaving the Army, Lucky married the love of his life and became a born-again Christian. He worked for 20 plus years in the copper mines of Copperhill, Tennessee, and later in manufacturing plants around Murphy, including Emerson, OMC, and TEAM Industries, finally working for Cherokee County as an attendant at the Ranger Industrial Park Site. A devoted son, husband, father and grandfather, Lucky lovingly cared for his aging mother. He cheered on his daughters when they played basketball for Ranger and Hiwassee Dam, encouraged them in their higher educational goals, and celebrated their accomplishments. He loved a neat, freshly-mowed lawn, tending a summer garden, and caring for his little dogs, of which he had many over the years he loved cooking big meals for his family. “Paw-Paw” doted on his granddaughters, he was a good neighbor, friend to many, and never met a stranger.
Lucky was preceded in death by his father and mother, Charlie and Gazzie Truett Jenkins; infant grandson, Gabriel Cochran; four sisters and their husbands, Dorothy and Vernon Allsbrooks, Faye and Woodrow Rogers, Jean and Roy Clonts, and Geneaive and Paul Jenkins; three brothers, Charles “Junior” Jenkins and wife, Mary and George and wife, June Jenkins and James Jenkins and wife, Joy; mother and father in law, Maunda Payne and Winford Ledford; brother in law, Larry Ledford; two sisters in law, Marlene Loudermilk and Portia Worley.
A graveside service will be held at a later date. Lucky’s ashes will be interred at the Shady Grove Baptist Church.
In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials be made in memory of William Henry “Lucky” Jenkins to Meals on Wheels c/o Denise Cross 69 Alpine Street Murphy, North Carolina 28906 or Shady Grove Baptist Church cemetery fund c/o Mrs. Lois Menasian 6 Deweese Street Murphy, North Carolina 28906.
Ivie Funeral Home, Murphy in charge of all arrangements.
Lucky was the youngest in Granny’s family and her last living sibling. There were 11 children, 9 lived to adulthood.
The three youngest were Granny, James, and Lucky in that order. You can read more about their family here.
Granny was six when Lucky was born. I asked her if she could remember the day he was born, but she said no she was just too young to remember. She did remember a funny story about it though.
James had been the baby of the family till Lucky came along. Granny said they always told that some of them asked James what he thought they should do with the new baby. He told them why he didn’t care what they did, they could throw him in the briar patch for all he cared. I’m sure there was much teasing between the last two brothers about that over the years.
Lucky gained his nickname because his mother was 40 years old when she had him.
He always called Granny Tooge. She can’t remember why, but said he had since they were just kids.
Lucky was so tall he had to duck in the doorways of Granny Gazzie’s house. He was one of the most gentle and kindest people I have ever known. He will be greatly missed by many.
Tipper
p.s. Today’s post was a little late due to a widespread internet outage last night.
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I am so sorry for you and your family’s loss. Keeping you all in my prayers. God bless you all.
I am so very sorry for your loss. I will lift all y’all in prayer.
Our uncle on our daddy’s side said he hated being the last one left because there was no one left who really understood their stories from their growing up years.
May the Lord be near to Granny and give her peace. God bless!
The picture of Granny and Lucky is so sweet. I am so sorry for your loss. Please give your mama an extra hug from me.
I am sorry to read about the passing of your uncle Lucky. I have been praying for Granny and Luckys wife and daughters.
It truly is a small world. Upon reading his obituary, I discovered that one of your cousins lives in a neighboring town. I live in Port Orange, Florida, and go to the doctor in Ormond Beach. Will keep all of you in my prayers. May God comfort you.
Sending prayers for Granny and your family. I lost my precious 97 year old grandmother on the 19th. Our loss is heaven’s gain.
Jill-I’m sorry you lost your grandmother. Thank you for your prayers!! I will pray for your family too. I like your thought about our loss and heaven’s gain.
Such an amazing man! I am so sorry for your loss. Praying for all of you, but especially Granny. What a great reunion we will have one day. So much love to you all.
Prayers for Granny and all of Lucky’s family.
Praying for all the family
Prayers to Granny and to all your family. The world is never the same when a loved one leaves this earth. God Bless and big hugs to all your family. Watch over Granny extra️
My deepest sympathy and many prayers.
Thoughts and prayers to the Jenkins family and friends.
Louzine and family . . .
You will miss your brother, uncle, dad, and paw paw but know that he is in a far better place and awaits your arrival. May he rest in peace and may your sorrow and grief be brief.
They sure favored each other didn’t they…heart goes out to everyone, especially granny since I know first hand what it is like to lose a brother (I have lost 2). Stay warm–it has been cold here in Oklahoma like it has been there and I think we might get rain this week sometime. Already wishing it was friday so I could look forward to your book reading
Spotted the Deweese St in obituary, that’s my mom’s maiden name! What a nice obituary, so happy he was a born again Christian, what peace that must bring you, even though you’ll miss him.
So sorry for your loss .Sending love & prayers for you all !
My condolences to you and your family, Tipper, on the passing of your Uncle Lucky. That’s a wonderful picture of him and Granny. God Bless you all.
My deepest condolences to you and your family
I’m sorry for your loss. Granny and your family are in my prayers
Such a sweet picture of Granny & Lucky. My heart & prayers go out to Granny & the entire family. My sweet Mom told me when my son was killed in a car accident that my son would not come back even if he could because he was in better place with the Lord, and he would be waiting on me & the rest of the family. Of course it is the ones left behind that mourn the loss of loved ones, and we can be impatient as we wait for our reunion. Prayers for all.
Amen, the ones that die and were Christians are in a better place, it’s the love ones left behind that suffer. I recently went to a funeral for a man and it was said he had been waiting on this day for 16 years wanting to rejoin his wife.
What a beautiful photo of Granny & Lucky. One can see he was such a loving, kind and gentle man in this picture. Thank you for sharing his ‘story’ Tipper. Condolences and gentle hugs to you all and especially to Granny. May our dear Father hold you each in His loving arms through this time. Praying.
My condolences to Granny and the family in the loss of her brother. In times like this, it’s the stories of a life well lived that sustain us and sounds like “Lucky” lived such a life. I especially enjoyed the story of what he said in response to what he thought they should do with the new baby. It brought to mind a story in my family when my baby sister was born. Being the baby, she got lots of attention and became somewhat spoiled. She wanted to be held all the time and cried a lot when she didn’t get her way… in my mother’s words, she “squalled and bawled” all the time. My younger brother was four years older than her and one day when he had had a fill of her crying, he said, “Send that baby back to Sears & Roebuck!” May stories such as these sustain you, Granny, and the family through this sad time.
I am so sorry for the loss of Lucky and please accept my deepest condolences. I am praying for the entire family & especially for Granny at this time. Thank you or that wonderful obituary and the picture of Lucky and Granny. He looks like a very kind, loving man & I know he will be missed by so many. Hugs!
So sorry for your loss. Sending prayers for Granny and family!
My condolences to your dear mother and to you and the rest of your family Miss Tipper.
To be missed is the finest tribute there is. An odd thing about it though is that missing someone typically is not because of a certain thing. It’s sorta like you would just be happy to see them. Yet another odd thing is that we don’t want people to be made unhappy by their missing us. As a line from a song has it, “Oh, I want them to miss me, in a way I suppose”. We want to be missed without pain.
sending prayers and love to you and your family.
My condolences, Tipper. It’s hard to let go of that generation but we know it is a part of life. It sounds like your Uncle Lucky left many sweet memories.
I had been the baby for six years when my brother was born in 1939. An uncle asked me what I thought of my new baby brother. I reportedly replied that I wished they’d take him back and swap him for a watermelon.
My condolences to the family today.
So very sorry for your loss! Praying for all the family!
I am so sorry and will be praying for Granny, Lucky’s family and all of you. I also am the last one living in my family and I understand how Granny feels. What a precious picture of the two of them.
So sorry. I always felt so sad for my Daddy. He was the 13th out of 14 children and was the last to pass away of all his family. Give Granny big hugs.❤️
I’m so sorry for your loss. It’s wonderful that you and the girls are so close by to sit with Granny as she mourns her last sibling. Lucky sounds like the kind of person I, and everyone, would have loved to know.
I’m so sorry for Granny and your family.
I’m very sorry for your family’s loss. Sending prayers for comfort for all.
Please take extra good care of Granny over the next several days. This has got to be really tough on her. Life is fragile!
Praying for Granny and the family. I only had one brother and he is gone now. Oh how I miss him, my parents and aunts and uncles. I know I will see them again but I still miss them.
I will be praying for your family during this difficult time. Lucky’s face showed a gentleness, just as you described when he hugged his sweet sister, Tooge.
What a beautiful write up. Thank you for sharing it with us. Lucky sounded like such a wonderful, gentle and godly man! I am so sorry for his loss for all of you. Please give Granny our sympathy and love.
Prayers for Granny, you, and all of Lucky’s family. I know that he had been sick for a while, but that doesn’t make it much easier on the family.
, God bless the family with strength to endure this trying time, in Jesus mighty name
Prayers for all the family of this godly man. Thank you for sharing some of the things about him. ❤️
Sorry for your family. Especially Mrs. Wilson
Tipper and family,
so sorry to hear about your loss, may he rest in peace.
prayers for Granny and the family.
Denise and Jeff Ghaner.
I’m so sorry for the loss of your uncle. Prayers for comfort for all the family
In reading the obituary I saw that he worked at the copper mine in Copperhill, Tennessee. My brother in law, Laddie Hicks, worked there, for years, as well. He passed away in the late nineties.
So sorry for your loss. He sounds like a wonderful man.
My second to the youngest sister was born on my oldest brother’s birthday 10 years apart. He was not happy to have another girl especially since he already had three sisters and only one brother at the time. In the end he ended up with five sisters. He, too, was a veteran; a door gunner on a helicopter crew in Vietnam. He died at 60.
My prayers are for his family and Granny of course.
Keeping Granny and the family in prayer as always.
Prayers for Granny and the entire family. My mother is the last one left in her family. She’s 95. It’s so hard to lose a loved one, I lost my daddy June 2000 suddenly. Granny and family will see Lucky again because he was a born-again Christian. That’s my comfort when I think of my daddy, I will see him again one day in heaven with Jesus.
I’m so sorry for your loss. Prayers and hugs for all of you!
My sincerest condolences to Granny and you at this time. Lucky sounds like quite a wonderful man and I’m certain he was. My grandma Neese had 11 and I remember aunt Mona was the last one to pass and she was well into her 80’s (and one of the eldest.) When something like this happens, it’s a hard blow to the heart. My prayers will be with you all at this time. May the Lord keep you all in his care especially at this time of great loss for dear, dear granny.
I’m sorry for the loss of your uncle, Tipper, and Granny her brother. Lucky seems like he was a very nice man; that was a well-written obituary. My prayers are with you all; may God surround you all with His peace and comfort.
So very sorry for your loss. Losing loved ones never gets easier. The grief just compounds. The only thing that helps is knowing that we can see them again if they accepted Jesus. HE is our HOPE!
The Bible says that “precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His saints”. The loss of a loved one is heartbreaking to their families and loved ones. May God give you all grace and strength in this difficult time.
May William Henry rest in God’s Eternal Peace, and that Granny is comforted by the knowledge that she will see him again when the Lord calls her name.
My condolences to the whole family.
My sincerest condolences to you, Granny and all the family on the loss of Lucky. Find comfort in all of your wonderful memories.
I’m sure he was a sweet man just like Granny. I’ll pray for your family and especially his family. I understand how granny feels. I’m the last one of my family still living as well. Granny has lots of good memories and she’s been blessed to be part of such a loving family.
I’m so sorry for your loss. Lucky sounds like a wonderful person. Please give granny prayers and condolences.
I am so sorry to hear about Lucky. Death is a part of life. Granddaddy always said “It is a time to rejoice if they are ready to go.” It is a hard thing and even when mom, dad, and my brother left in less than 7 months in 2009, I still miss them a lot. Knowing that they are home with Jesus is your peace. I pray that Granny and all of your family will have the peace that passes all understanding. I wanted you to know that my husband’s real name is Lucky and he has 2 brother’s whose names are Dusty and Rocky. He lost his brother Dusty many years ago. Lucky is now 79 years old. God bless you all.
So sorry for the loss of your uncle, prayers of peace and comfort to Granny and your family.
Condolences to the entire family and hugs to Granny.
I will be praying for Granny and the family. I once came back from Chattanooga by driving on the backroads and passed by the mines at Copperhill.
I thought of my wife’s baby sister when you mentioned throwing him in a briar patch, Wanda was 8 years old and the baby when Teresa was born, she ask her parents if they could take Teresa back and get their money back.