Mrs. Lanelle Clark Sansom, of the Oak Grove Community, passed away
Sunday, September 13, 2026, six days after celebrating her 90th birthday.
Funeral services will be 3:00 PM, Thursday at Moore Cortner Funeral Home in
Winchester. The family will receive visitors from 1:00 PM until time of service
Thursday at the funeral home. Brother Jimmy Gray will officiate, with burial to
follow at Mt. Garner Cemetery in Decherd.
For the last 21 months, she was a resident of the Lantern at Morning Point in
Tullahoma. She was blessed with her new family of residence and under the
care of a highly-trained professional and dedicated, loving staff.
She was born September 7, 1936, in Winchester, to the late Herman and Elna
Ree Crabtree Clark. One of four children, her father passed away when she
was two years old.
Life was hard for a widowed mother with four small children, but with the help
of the good Lord, family, and neighbors, they survived and flourished, even
after a copperhead snake bite as a small child. She was quickly taken up the
mountain on horseback to the hospital in Sewanee, Tennessee. The Clark
family was known for their strong work ethic and this continues today in the
generations that have followed.
She retired from South Central Bell in 1986, after 30+ years of service. She
retired to be part of her daughter’s growing family, where they were blessed
with many opportunities for travel, vacations, and making memories with
“Gram” and “Pa”. They were always, always a part of the entourage.
Never afraid to speak her mind, she instilled independence in her daughter to
“always be able to take care of your self”. She and her husband Herman were
farmers, and they always had a second full-time job. She could drive a tractor
and bale hay right along with Herman. They raised beef cattle and row
cropped for a lot of years, retiring from farming when they were well into their
eighties. A great compliment was paid to them: “You never heard them
complain about having to go to work”.
In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her husband of 70
years, Herman Sansom, in April 2025; a sister, Dorothy Robertson, of
Huntsville; brothers, Ray Clark, of Wartrace, and Auburn Clark, of Bell Buckle,
and her brother in law, Joe Robertson, of Huntsville.
Survivors include her daughter, Pamela Sansom Feldhaus, and her husband
David, of Shelbyville; grandchildren, David Feldhaus, Jr. and his wife Erin,
William Feldhaus, and Andrew Feldhaus, and his wife Karen, all of
Shelbyville; Katie Feldhaus Jackson, and her husband Jeffrey, of Nashville
and Shelbyville; great grandchildren, Emory James Feldhaus, Maxwell Brent
Feldhaus, and Andrew “ Andy” Phillip Feldhaus, all of Shelbyville; sisters in
law, Glynn Clark of Wartrace and Terry Clark of Bell Buckle, numerous nieces,
nephews, and cousins and great nieces and nephews.
The family would like to thank the skilled and caring staff of The Lantern at
Morning Point, Hospice Compassus, and Peggy’s girls, who greatly assisted
Gram and Pam in her care.
Lanelle would be honored with memorials to:
Attn: Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer’s Center
P. O. Box 290369
Nashville, TN 37229
