Obituary of Otelia Graves Vantrease

Otelia Vantrease, age 91, died peacefully at home on February 16, 2010. The family will be receiving friends at Sellars Funeral Home in Lebanon from 4-8 p.m. on Thursday, February 18, 2010 and for one hour prior to the service on Friday. The chapel service, conducted by Reverend Terry Fesler and nephew Reverend Fran Buhler, is 1 p.m. Friday, February 19, 2010. Interment in Cedar Grove Cemetery. Pallbearers: Donald Gannon, Eugene Graves, Kenneth Vantrease, Jerry Vantrease, Tyree Vantrease, and Terry Vantrease. She was the daughter of Wilburn and Sulu Graves, wife of Fred W. Vantrease, and the sister of Opal Dillard, Amy Lee Buhler, Hilda Glick, and Robert Graves. She is survived by three sons: Leon (Frances) Vantrease, Don Wayne (Brenda) Vantrease, and Fred Vantrease Jr.; three sisters: Ellen Glick of Detroit MI, Frances Vantrease and Sue Alsup of Lebanon; one brother: Osko Graves of Lebanon; four grandchildren: Terry and Robin Vantrease of Lebanon, Tyree Vantrease, and Jennifer Kinnear of Los Angeles; brother-in-law: Don Glick of Detroit; sister-in-law: Myrtle Vantrease of Chattanooga; four great-grandchildren: Ian and Sophia Kinnear of Los Angeles, and Jeremy and Jeffery Vantrease of Lebanon; and two great-great-grandchildren: Parker and Jackson Vantrease of Lebanon. "Miss Telia", as she was affectionately called by her friends and former Sunday School students, was always very positive and cheerful and always seemed to find the glass half-full. She had a life-long devotion to Cedar Grove Baptist Church and was an active participant in her community. She was always willing to serve and was president of many community organizations including the PTA and the Carroll Home Demonstration Club. She was very involved in church life including choir and WMU and served as President of the Wilson County WMU. She loved cooking and entertaining for her friends and family, her flower garden, and her extensive collection of salt and pepper shakers. Late in life she enjoyed socializing in the Lebanon Senior Citizen"s Center with her late friend D.J. Gannon. The family would like to thank Mesha Waters, Marilyln Watson and Rose Ethridge for the loving care they gave to Miss Telia and also the employees of Caris Healthcare, especially Tinesha Joyner, for all their special care and attention these last three years.