212
Funeral services for Mrs. Linda Lancaster, age 81, will be Wednesday January 26, 2022 at 2 PM in the chapel of Shelton Funeral Home, with Joey Johnson officiating. Graveside service and burial will follow in White Hall Baptist Church Cemetery. Visitation with the family will be Wednesday January 26, 2022 beginning at 12 noon until service time at 2 PM at Shelton Funeral Home Trenton, TN. The family asks those attending wear masks. In lieu of flowers, you may to donate to the charity of your choice.
Elsie Lorraine Pope King and Fay John King welcomed their sixth child, a redheaded girl, on the day after Christmas 1940, on a farm outside of Rutherford, Tennessee. Linda Joyce King completed their family of eight, and she was immediately loved by her two brothers and three sisters. She departed this life at the age of 81 years and 30 days on January 25, 2022 after a lengthy battle with cancer.
Linda spent the early years of her life on the family farm. Many a day started working alongside her father – milking cows, feeding livestock, and gathering eggs while her mother fried chicken and baked biscuits for breakfast. Linda always spoke fondly of her childhood on the farm, even if she had to spend several weeks picking cotton every fall.
At Rutherford High School she excelled as an outstanding basketball player for the Lady Pirates and Valedictorian of her 1959 graduating class.
Like many West Tennessee kids in the ‘50s, she moved to Memphis after graduation. It was there she met Jere Young Prince. Jere and Linda married and started their family. Three daughters – Tammy, Brenda, and Monika, would arrive in ’61, ’62, and ’63. Another daughter, Jeri, came along in 1968 while Jere was in Vietnam. In August of 1970, the sisters welcomed their baby brother, John Rainey. 1974 saw the family move to Seoul, South Korea where Jere worked as a civilian weapons specialist for the United States Army and Linda was a secretary in the office of the Joint United States Military Assistance Group (JUSMAG-K). In December of 1977, the Prince family excitedly welcomed a son and beloved brother, Steven Yi. Jere passed away on April 4, 1978, and Linda found herself with the task of moving six children halfway across the world back to Gibson County, Tennessee. It was there where she worked at the Department of Human Services and later as a legal secretary for 24 years.
In late 1980, Linda met Max Davis Lancaster, and the two began dating. They married in a Gatlinburg chapel on July 22, 1981 and have spent over 40 years together laughing and crying through what was truly a wonderful life. They were supremely blessed with 24 grandchildren and a bunch of great-grandchildren who christened Linda with the names “Grandma” and “Nonee.”Nonee lived a good life. She loved her family. She was a Cub Scout den mother, attended dozens of band contests, sat through a ton of Peabody High School football games, and was a long-time Tennessee Vols fan. In addition to being able to work a crossword puzzle in record time, she could type faster than anyone, make the best biscuits, and bake the finest pecan pie known to mankind. Her grandkids will miss her laughter, hugs, chicken casserole, spaghetti, and her ability to concoct the best damn hushpuppy batter ever – as long as no one stirred it after she was done!
Preceding Linda in death are her parents, Fay and Elsie, her first husband Jere Prince, her brother James, her sisters Christine and Wanda, her in-laws Paul and Pauline Lancaster, her step-son Tommy Lancaster, and two grandsons, Erick Perches and Tyler Howell.
Linda is survived by her best friend and husband Max Davis Lancaster, her brother John William, her sister Betty, and eight of her nine children and step-children – Paul Lancaster, Tammy Murdock, Brenda Pangrazio, David Lancaster, Monika Prince, Jeri Sammons, Steven Prince, and John Prince. More than anything, she would want everyone to know she was most proud of all those Grands and Great-Grands. They were all truly the apple of her eye.
Linda was a Christian. Her favorite hymn was “In the Garden,” and her family finds peace in knowing that she is presently in that garden, walking and talking with Jesus.
