Eva June Ousley Graves, age 99, died peacefully at her home in Kingsport, TN on April 6, 2022. She was generous to family and friends, faithful to her convictions, loyal to her church, and devoted to the children she taught. She will be dearly missed but remembered with a smile.
Eva was born on October 3, 1922, in Goin, TN to the late Charles Lafayette and Mossie Needham Ousley. She grew up in Sharps Chapel in Union County and graduated from Horace Maynard High School as valedictorian of the class of 1940.
She attended East Tennessee State Teachers College (ETSU) for the next two years earning a teaching certificate. During World II, she worked at Fulton Sylphon where she met her husband, Paris Leroy Graves. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee in 1962. After teaching in Union, Blount, and Knox counties for 31 years, she retired from Bonny Kate Elementary School.
In 2018, Eva left the beloved home that Leroy built on Smallwood Drive and the Mountain View United Methodist Church congregation that she adored to be closer to her daughter. She found comfort, security, and companionship at Preston Place in Kingsport. She was grateful for her many helpers in Knoxville and in Kingsport, most recently Martha, Candye, and Bernita.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Leroy; son, Edwin Graves; brother, Whitt Ousley; and sisters, Ruby Johnson and Nelle Roach.
Eva is survived by daughter Elaine Zoeller and her husband Joseph Zoeller, daughter-in-law Geri Graves, grandson and spouse Andrew and Kara Zoeller, granddaughter Elizabeth Zoeller, step-grandchildren and spouses, Michael and Delia Raymer, Laura and Kirk Eddlemon, and three step-great-grandchildren, sister Mildred Lynch, niece and spouse Penny Lynch and James Maguire, nephews and spouses Pat Lynch, Mark Roach, Mike and Debbie Roach, Jeffrey and Charlsie Roach, and John and Elaine Roach and Garry Johnson.
The interment service will be held on Saturday, April 9, 2022 at 1:00 pm at Greenwood Cemetery. A memorial service will follow at 2:00 pm at Mountain View United Methodist Church with Mike Treadway officiating.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Mountain View United Methodist Church, 3200 Maryville Pike, Knoxville, TN 37920.
Online condolences may be left at www.berryfuneralhome.com.
