Gwendolyn Potts

Ms. Gwendolyn “Gwen” Potts age 84 of the Smith Branch Community died peacefully at 4:10 a.m. Wednesday morning June 14, 2023 at the Palace Health Care in Red Boiling Springs where she had made her home since April 19th of this year.

Bro. Frank Bratcher officiated at the 1 p.m. Monday afternoon June 19th funeral services from the Carthage Chapel of Sanderson Funeral Home and burial followed in the Garden of Peace at the Smith County Memorial Gardens.

Born Gwendolyn Marie Noel in Harvey in Cook County, Illinois on July 24, 1938, she was the second of six children born to the late Fred Lonzo Noel who died February 11, 1965 at the age of 57 and Cynthia Miranda Williams Noel who died September 18, 1989 at the age of 75.

An infant sister, Winnie Noel preceded her in death and as did a son, Douglas Allan Potts who died September 11, 2001 at the age of 43. Also preceding Ms. Potts in death was a brother Vernon Noel. Ms. Potts attended the Franklin County High School in Winchester, Tennessee through the eleventh grade. She was a longtime employee of the former Carthage Shirt Corporation before retiring in 1987. She was preceded in death by her companion of over forty years, Lester Gordon Hughes who died at the age of 86 on March 28, 2022. Ms. Potts was of the Baptist faith.

Surviving are her five children, Grady Leon Potts of Deckard, Tennessee, Marie Yvonne Hall and husband Bill of McMinnville, Debra Johnston of Lafayette, Roberta Patterson and husband Ronnie of Manchester, William Joseph “B. J.” Potts and Donna of Tullahoma; two sisters, Brenda Coker and husband Tom of Dunlap, Tennessee, Sally Hamater and husband John of St. John, Indiana; brother, Howard Noel and wife Norma of Cedar Lake, Indiana; several grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.