Lucy Gulledge

Lucy Mae Cook Gulledge, affectionately known by many as simply Miss Lucy, Aunt Mae or Granny, departed this life September 28, 2015 at the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky. She was 95. Born January 17, 1920 in a tent at a logging camp outside Huntsville, Alabama where her father was supervisor, Lucy was the fifth child of seven born to James Delmer Cook and Gustava “Todd” Wester, both natives of Butler County, Kentucky. There are two things most of us will always remember about Miss Lucy; her full, feisty sense of humor, and her incredible food. You never visited her home without laughing and you never walked away hungry. You also never left without a hug. No doubt these traits grew out of her upbringing on a hardscrabble Ohio County Kentucky farm just across the Green River from Paradise, made famous in the song of the same name by John Prine whom Lucy would occasionally babysit. Lucy’s father was an excellent musician and an industrious logger and farmer; Her mother an equally hard working, warm soul. Together, the Cooks instilled in Lucy the value of family, faith, and fortitude. These lessons prepared her for life’s hardships that started for her at the young age of twelve when her mother died of Tuberculosis, the same illness that took her young sister Maudry. That was 1932 and the great depression was in full swing. Things weren’t easy for the motherless family. Lucy pulled her weight around farm, and she learned to cook. "That old stove was a good one." Lucy once recalled. "You could use coal or wood. No cake mixes were around. We made everything from scratch back then. We lived on a farm so we had milk and eggs. All we needed was sugar and flour... and mom always had cocoa." This set in motion Lucy’s lifelong penchant for baking a cake every Saturday “in case we get company.” Everybody in her family had a cake specially made for their birthday; a gift she often gave to other family and friends for as long as she could bake. It wasn’t just Lucy’s sense of humor that was feisty but her personality, too. She married a handsome young man from Ohio County when she was just 17, Otto White, and had their only child Vera Mae soon after. Before long the famed Mr. Peabody bought the young couple’s farm, and they moved to Evansville, Indiana to find work; Otto at Whirlpool, and Lucy at Indian Industries, a sporting goods factory, where she worked for more than thirty years running presses, welding, and finishing. Lucy saw a lot of major happenings during her 95 years. From WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Cold War to man’s landing on the moon, the Civil Rights movement and the terrorist attacks of 9/11; she watched it all unfold with unwavering patriotism and faith for a better world. "When I was a little girl it [the 4th of July] was the one day a year we had ice cream. We lived out in the country and we didn't have electricity, but we had cows. Every 4th of July Dad would make homemade ice cream, usually vanilla. He had an old ice cream maker with a crank; Wood on the outside and metal on the inside. The only thing we had to do was get ice, but that was a big job back then. You couldn't just run down the street to the store for a bag or get it out of your refrigerator. It was a big deal and we always looked forward to it." Over the decades there was a lot of change in Lucy’s personal life, as well. She gained an amazing son-in-law in Korean War veteran Robert Bayer who gifted her with three beautiful grandchildren. The exit of Otto White offered the entrance of John Gulledge to whom she remained married until his death in 1982. Lucy’s only child, Vera, died suddenly in 1997 followed by her beloved son-in-law Robert in 2000. Parents aren’t supposed to outlive their children. In typical Lucy fashion, she picked herself up by her bootstraps and carried on. Lucy herself had a brush with death as she suffered a broken neck, arms, ribs and kneecap in a car crash when she was a young 78 years old. But feisty Lucy, looking a bit Frankensteinish for a while, worked hard, laughed it off and returned to drive a car and mow her own yard until she was 90 years old. That’s when the repair of a broken Femur introduced Alzheimer’s to Lucy’s lexicon. She enjoyed her remaining days in Lexington, KY in the care of her oldest granddaughter, Tamara, where she assisted with real estate showings with glee. She especially enjoyed the occasional cheeseburger, her favorite, and assisting Tamara prepare Lucy’s famous chocolate cake icing. She would often reminisce about her coming of age on that western Kentucky farm such as riding her horse Trixie with her beloved sister Mary Lou, playing music and dancing with her father, riding to church revivals in the back of a horse drawn hay wagon, riding the ferry across the Green River and particularly the introduction of basketball at the local school that lead to a lifelong love of the sport. Lucy was a rabid University of Kentucky Wildcat basketball fan. Something most important to Lucy, while she still resided in Evansville was hosting holiday gatherings for her family and any of their friends without a place to go, making sure that no one went without food or companionship during the holidays. "It's about faith, love, family, friends and appreciating the good and bad in your life,” Lucy told Tamara. “Getting a piece of fruit and a doll in my stocking and spending time with family... That was the perfect Christmas [to me]." She never forgot how to share that joy with others. Her parents, sisters Maudry Cook, Anna Cook, and Mary Lou Mayhugh, brothers Samuel, Eddie, and Orvil Lee Cook; husband John Gulledge, her daughter Vera Mae White Bayer, and son-in-law Robert Henry Bayer preceded Lucy in death. She is survived three grandchildren; Robert J. Bayer of Katy, Texas, Tamara Bayer of Lexington, Kentucky and Karen Waters of Port Orange, Florida; two great-grandchildren Sarah Michelle Bayer Jorgensen of Evansville, Indiana and Dylan Mitchell Waters of Port Orange, Florida, and one great-great granddaughter Ashley Marie Jorgensen of Evansville, Indiana. Lucy was a member of the First Southern Baptist Church in Evansville, Indiana. A special note of thanks from Lucy’s family to her caregivers for the last few years who treated her with love and respect: Susan Dillon, Stefanie Diggs, Ollie Burge, Nicola Douglas, Cynthia Franklin and Roni Palmer. In lieu of flowers or financial support, the family asks that a rose, azalea, or hydrangea bush be planted in Lucy’s memory in the location of your choosing, followed by dinner with your family and loved ones. Nothing would pay tribute to Lucy’s legacy more than being with the ones you love and appreciating their good souls.

Lucy Gulledge

January 17, 1920 - September 28, 2015