Ewing, Christine Wells – The Lives We Lived

Obituary

Christine Wells Ewing, age eighty-three, died February 5, 2006, after a lengthy bout with pneumonia. She lived a full and busy life that spanned the geographic reach from the Mississippi Delta to the Pacific Northwest and then finally to Middle Tennessee. Christine was born July 27, 1922, in Merigold, Mississippi. Her father, Alvin Wells was a share cropper. She enjoyed a close-knit farm life with her mother, Arizona, and older sister, Louine. After high school graduation in Merigold in 1940, Christine moved to Memphis where she enrolled in and completed business school. She landed a job working with the public selling tickets for the Chicago and Southern Airline in the lobby of the Hotel Peabody.

One afternoon in July, 1945, while Christine was walking the daily receipts across the hotel lobby to the bank, she was startled by a young man rising from a chair nearby. That's where she met Bob Ewing, originally from Salem, Oregon, but now a hotel resident and engineer with Boeing Aircraft, seeking her company for a date. Reflecting her deep religious values, Christine accepted after several days and inquired if he would go to church with her, which he did the following Sunday. These dates led to a busy courtship and engagement in September when Bob had to return to Seattle. Bob and Christine were married in Memphis on November 18, 1945. The newlyweds returned to the Pacific Northwest and lived in Oregon and Washington throughout the late 1940s. In March 1948, the couple had their first child, Janet, born in Salem, Oregon. In 1952, the family moved back to Memphis as engineering opportunities were more plentiful in the Deep South. In November 1952, Christine gave birth to her second child, Fred.

Christine and family ultimately settled in Jackson, Mississippi, where she lived until moving to Nashville with her husband and daughter in 2003. During her years in Jackson, Christine was an active homemaker, team mother and Sunday School teacher while her two children were growing up. As Janet and Fred matured, Christine went back into professional work where she served capably as an executive secretary in both the University of Mississippi Medical and Dental Schools. She retired from her work with the State of Mississippi in 1987.

Christine's life was of service to others reflected by her significant volunteer efforts with her beloved Meadowbrook Church of Christ in Jackson and through the Mississippi Council on Epilepsy. After moving to Nashville, Christine became a member of the Otter Creek Church of Christ. Survivors include her husband for sixty years, Robert Clark Ewing; daughter, Janet Ewing of Brentwood; son, Fred Ewing of Brentwood; daughter-in-law, Vanessa Ewing of

Brentwood; her two grandchildren, Kimberly Ewing of Denver, CO, and Michael Ewing of Knoxville, TN; granddaughter-in-law, Beth Swang Ewing; niece, Betty Copeland of Memphis, TN; niece, Nancy Glass of Salem, OR; brother-in-law, John Glass, Santa Fe, NM. Visitation will be on Wednesday, February 8, 2006, from 4-7 p.m. at Woodlawn Funeral Home and on Thursday, February 2006, from 10-11 a.m. at the new location of the Otter Creek Church of Christ, 409 Franklin Road in Brentwood. The service will be at 11 a.m., on Thursday, February 9, 2006, at the new home of the Otter Creek Church of Christ at 409 Franklin Road in Brentwood.

Comments by son, Fred Ewing

Although her life with OC spanned only three years (my parents and sister moved here in 2003 and she passed in February 2006), I will share one OC memory about her.

Mom loved attending OC--both its worship and the Sunday school classes. However, she was a bit physically intimidated by the crowded hallways during the transition from class to church in the old Granny White building. If you recall, we had two services back to back with classes going on simultaneously with worship. The transition period from one to the other event was hectic.

Mom was eager to experience OC in the new building at 409 Franklin Road. However, she developed a bad chest cold the first week of January 2006. This became pneumonia which took a heavy physical toll on her until her passing on February 5, 2006. Well, Mom did get to experience the new building in a special way. Her memorial service at 409 Franklin Rd on February 9 was the first official OC service to be held in our new church home.