Winnie Gillespie Ledford Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Winnie Gillespie Ledford, 82, of Johnson City, passed peacefully away on June 22, 2022. Winnie was a native of Kingsport, and the daughter of the late Bryan Boroughs Gillespie and Georgia Belle Lee Gillespie McClellan. She was a 1959 graduate of Lynn View High School, Kingsport, and a 1961 Graduate of East Tennessee State College, where she received a B.S. in Education. Winnie never met a stranger and touched lives everywhere she lived. As a proud Military Wife, she served on the home front raising a family and being very involved in the Officer’s Wives Club everywhere they were stationed. Winnie loved being a mom and was an extremely proud Grandma/Nana. She also loved traveling with her Angels and spending time with her Rose Avenue friends. There wasn’t a craft she couldn’t master, a puzzle she couldn’t solve or an issue her homemade Chex mix couldn’t fix. Winnie was a former teacher, banker, homemaker, and a member of First Presbyterian Church of Johnson City. She will be greatly missed, but we take comfort in knowing that she has been reunited with her husband, big brother, parents as well as many other friends and family. Knowing Winnie, she has already made new friends in Heaven. In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her husband, LTC (RET) Larry Ledford, in 2017, big brother, Charlie “Cal” Gillespie, and step-father, Lee McClellan. Winnie is survived by her daughter, Laura McGowan (John); son, Lee Ledford (Sherry); brother Doug Varney (Teresa); grandchildren, Katherine McGowan Skinner (Justin), Olivia McGowan and Jackson Ledford; sister-in-law, Barbara Gillespie; nephews, Bryan Gillespie, Bob Gillespie; nieces, Gigi Householder, Jami Ledford Click, Emilie Varney Robinette, Lauren Varney Plunk and Leandra Varney Mitchell. The graveside funeral service will be held Thursday, June 30, 2022, at 11:00 A.M., in Mountain Home National Cemetery (Historic Site), with Rev. Paul R. Helphinstine, officiating. Pallbearers will be selected from family and friends. Those planning to attend are to meet at the cemetery at 10:50 A.M. Thursday. The family will receive friends Wednesday from 5:00-7:00 P.M. in the East Parlor of Appalachian Funeral Home.

Winnie Gillespie Ledford

December 30, 1939 - June 22, 2022