Shelby Jean Webb Gallien, prominent citizen of Savannah, Tennessee, and a former school teacher in Memphis City Schools and Hardin County, died on November 29, 2015, at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville. She was the beloved wife of Dr. John Hurst Gallien, who survives.
Shelby Jean Webb was born on August 23, 1937, in Crockett County, Tennessee. She was the daughter of Floyd Glendon and Marion Louise Privett Webb of Alamo, Tennessee. She grew up on a cotton farm and graduated from Alamo High School where she was the valedictorian of the Class of 1955. She attended the University of Tennessee at Martin where she received her Bachelor of Science in Education. It was there that she met her husband. They were married on July 13, 1957, at First Baptist Church in Alamo.
Mrs. Gallien taught at Bruce Elementary School in Memphis until 1960, when she and her husband moved to Savannah after he completed dental school at the University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences. Shelby later taught in Savannah at North Elementary School and at Hardin County Junior High School.
A devoted member of First United Methodist Church of Savannah, she served on several committees and councils including the Pastor Parish Committee, the Parsonage Committee, and the Board of Trustees. She loved to play bridge and was a member of several clubs throughout the years. She was a charter member of the Savannah Junior Auxiliary, and loved to boat and spend time with her children and grandchildren on Pickwick Lake. She was known for her beautiful smile and gracious Southern hospitality. She was affectionately known around town as “Miss Shelby” and was loved by all who knew her.
Miss Shelby’s main love and activities centered on her children and grandchildren, often traveling hundreds of miles to see them participate in various sports and other events. She was an adored grandmother known as “Nana,” “NeNe,” and “Mom Mom,” to her grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Floyd and Louise Webb, her brother, Dr. Jimmy Webb of Jackson, Tennessee, her maternal grandparents, Joseph and Carrie Pearson Privett, and her paternal grandparents, Ira and Abbie Worrell Webb.
In addition to her loving husband, Mrs. Gallien is survived by her three daughters: Mary Susan (J.D.) Clinton of Naples, Florida; Jean Anne (David) Vaughn of Savannah, Tennessee; and Jane Ellen (Steve) Sanders of Austin, Texas. She is also survived by six grandchildren: John Denver Clinton, II and Russell Hurst Clinton of Naples, Florida; Catherine Caraway Sanders and Anna Louise Sanders of Austin, Texas; and Walker Simonds Vaughn and Shelby Pearson Tucker Vaughn of Savannah, Tennessee. Additionally, she is survived by her sister, Carol Anne Webb Barker of Counce, Tennessee, and a sister-in-law, Nelda Webb Cox of Jackson, Tennessee.
Pallbearers will be her grandchildren, Walker Vaughn, Denver Clinton, Shelby Vaughn, Hurst Clinton, Catherine Sanders, and Anna Louise Sanders, nephews, Bart Barker and Reid Barker, and sons-in-law, David Vaughn, Steve Sanders, and J.D. Clinton.
Honorary pallbearers include Don Boothe, Kent Collier, Michael Davis, Dr. Tom Gallien, Bo Higginbottom, Jim Kerr, Benjamin Ogden, Billy Qualls, Bob Yeiser, Grady Yeiser, Emmett Yeiser, and the Directors of the Hardin County Bank: Gordon Majors, Rita Shaw Maxedon, Larry Roser, Daniel Smith, Tom Tallent, and John White, III.
Any charitable donations are asked to be sent to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, First United Methodist Church of Savannah, Tennessee, or Soles4Souls of Old Hickory, Tennessee.
