Erlene Truett Shear

COLUMBIA - Erlene Truett Shear, 81, died at Heartland Rehabilitation Center in Columbia on Saturday, December 10, 2011. Born on March 2, 1931 in Lanett, Alabama, she was a daughter of the late Linnie Britt Truett and Elijah Dorman Truett.
She graduated from Lanett High School in 1949 and received a scholarship to LaGrange College, LaGrange, Georgia, where she graduated in 1953 with a B.A. degree. She received her M. Libn. at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1956.
She spent her career as a research librarian having worked for the Enka Corporation, Amcel Propulsion Co., Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies, Georgia State University and LaGrange College. She retired after moving with her then-husband, Ray, to Columbia, in 1973.
Erlene was a talented needle worker and through the years she made many cross-stitch, needle-point, and crewel embroidered pictures which she shared with her friends and family who proudly hung them on their walls. She also made Barbie doll clothes to dress the dolls of her two nieces. She was a voracious reader, and she loved to do crossword puzzles, cook, and travel. She served as a Girl Scout leader for several years. She will always be remembered for her intelligence, quiet demeanor and her sweet disposition.
In Erlene's later years, she gradually became wheelchair bound. She was able to remain in her own home in Columbia under the excellent care of Adrian Livingston and Patalisa Jackson. She then moved to Heartland Rehabilitation Center in Columbia and lived there for a year and a half where she died.
Erlene is survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Wylene and Morris Loeb of Columbus, GA; a nephew, David Kitchens and his wife, Linda, of Atlanta, GA and Balsam Mountain, N.C.; two nieces, Suzanne Roberson and her husband, Roy, of Auburn, AL, and Ginger Reid of Snellville, GA. She is also survived by her great-nieces and their children: Julie and Chris O'Tool and their children, Ansley and Ethan of Cumming, GA; Jenny and Rick Navickas and their three children, Katie, Aiden and Jackson of Auburn, AL; also surviving great-nieces, Katie Kitchens of Table Rock, N.C., and Sydney and Gabby Reid of Snellville, GA; and a great nephew, Scott Kitchens, of Boulder, CO. She is also survived by a dear friend and neighbor, Phoebe Malloy and a number of cousins and their families.
The family would like to thank all of the caregivers and physicians at Heartland and her special friends in Columbia.
The family requests no flowers, but donations in Erlene's memory may be made to your church or favorite charity.
A private memorial service will be held in Snellville, GA, later this month. Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel, is assisting the family.