, 88, of Muscle Shoals, passed away Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013, after a brief illness.
A native of Florence, Lola lived in Sheffield and then Muscle Shoals for most of her life. As a young woman in World War II, she worked extensively in the war effort at the cotton mills of Florence as a volunteer nurse for the Red Cross and for the USO.
Her professional career included secretarial work with the Sheffield Board of Education, labor union activism, and building trades union secretarial work for decades, especially with the Plumbers and Steamfitters Union, Local 760. In 1998, Lola was recognized as the Shoals area’s Labor Member of the Year. After retirement, she became the first female bailiff in the Colbert County Court System with Judges Johnson and Thurston and Judge Chad Coker when he first began his work in Colbert County.
A breast cancer survivor of more than 20 years, Lola was active in the local Bosom Buddies organization, a longtime member of the Pilot Club of Sheffield, and a stalwart member of the First Baptist Church of Sheffield. Her multitude of friends and associates included some of Alabama’s top politicians as well as President Jimmy Carter’s election staff.
Lola rarely met a “stranger”. Her zeal for life, sense of humor, and the genuine joy she found in associating with others remained with her until the very end of her life.
She cherished all of her family and provided constant brightness for them all. She was preceded in death by her mother and father, Amos and Mattie (Kelly) Redding; sisters, Selma Beckham and Thalia Holden; brothers, Amos Redding Jr. and Fred Redding; as well as two husbands, James H. Stutts and Robert Blaxton.
Lola is survived by her daughter, Diane Owens (husband, Ken), of Huntsville; her son, Will Stutts; and beloved grandson, Brandon Owens (wife, Susan Trentham), of Tucson, Ariz. Other survivors include nieces, Linda Myrick (husband, Bill), of Sheffield, Earline Moore (husband, Jack), of Muscle Shoals, and David Myrick (wife, Wendy), Phillip Myrick (wife, Lisa), and Steven Myrick, all of Sheffield, Richard Holden (wife, Glenda), of Atlanta, Taylor Myrick, Anna Joy Myrick, Caroline Myrick, and Chloe Myrick.
It is not possible to mention all of her many friends who will miss her and mourn her passing from this world, but her years of closeness to Donna Campbell Dupree, Karen Nichols, Jo Henson, and Karen Rhump are acknowledged.
Services will be Sunday, Dec. 15, at 2:30 p.m. She will lie in state from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., with the service following at the First Baptist Church, N. Atlanta Ave., Sheffield.
In lieu of flowers, Lola’s wish was for the family to respectfully request donations to the American Cancer Society .
