Leona Retta Ridings

1904 - 1985  (80 years)

• Name	Leona Retta Ridings
  Birth	29 Aug 1904	Claiborne Co, TN
  Gender	Female
  Death	21 Jan 1985	Perry Co, KY
  	Leona R. Lovett,age 80, of Anco,Ky, passed away at Hazard ARH,Hazard. She was born Aug. 29 1904, the daughter of Ben Ridings and Nancy Turner. She was a member of the Anco Church of God. She is survived by her husband,William "Willie" Lovett of Anco,two sons, Hubert Lovett of Texas, James Lovett of Anco, one brother, George Marssie, of TN,two sisters, Willie Lewis of Jackson, MI,Pauline Phillips of TN,seven grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren. Funeral services were conducted Thursday,Jan. 24 at 2 PM,at Anco Church of God, Anco,with Rev. Lonnie Turner officiating,burial followed in the Carr Fork Cemetery, Little Carr. Hindman Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
  Burial	Knott Co, KY
  Person ID	I204	RidingsHale
  Last Modified	13 Jul 2020

  
  

  Father	Benjamin Franklin Ridings,   b. 30 Mar 1884, Claiborne Co, TN d. 14 Nov 1941, Bell Co, KY (Age 57 years)
  Mother	Nancy Mae Turner,   b. 17 Oct 1888, Claiborne Co, TN d. 8 May 1949, Bell Co, KY (Age 60 years)
  Marriage	Abt 1902	Claiborne Co, TN
  Family ID	F65	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	William Lovett,   b. 10 Dec 1906, Knott Co, KY d. 22 Mar 1991, Knott Co, KY (Age 84 years)
  Marriage	18 Oct 1924	Harlan Co, KY
  Children	1. Living   2. Living
  Family ID	F67	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	4 Sep 2025

  
  

• Photos		Leona Retta Ridings (L) b 1904 and half-sister Betty Kathleen Marsee
  		Leona Retta Ridings b 1904

  
  

• Notes

  Leona's obit lists the children of John Marsee and Nancy Turner as her bros. and sisters These names appear on the 1930 Bell Co KY census. Per Loretta Lovett, Leona first child died at birth or shortly after. Note from Mary Brown... Leona Lovett always wore dresses or skirts and blouses. She never wore pants or slacks. She thought it was a sin to wear them. She was 5' 7" and weight about 165 lbs. She had dark curly hair and blue eyes. A really pretty lady. She was a hard worker, keeping house, gardening, and canning the vegetables for her family. She made her own jams and jellies. She was a good cook and seemed to enjoy doing it. Every night she would tell us stories about the family. She believed family history should be passed down from one generation to the next generation. Most of her stories involved the Turner family. We used to visit Middlesboro, Bell Co KY. She showed me where my Turner family were buried...back to my 7th great-grandparents, John and Elizabeth Marsee Turner. They are buried in the 'Old Turner Cemetery, on 34th street in Middlesboro,KY. Across the street and back in the field...going south...was where John and Elizabeth raised their family. Leona showed me what was left of their home. There was only a foundation left, in 1950. The foundation was built from field stones. You could still see part of the path leading up to where their front door was. Someone had craved inititials in some of the field stones. They were boy + girlfriend type initials. In the field on some of the trees were these same type initials. I can't remember the letters in the initials...so I don't know if the initials were put there by John and Elizabeth's children...or perhaps by other people... later on through the years after John and Elizabeth died.