Charlene Mullins

A Celebration of Life for Charlene G. Mullins, 89, of Cookeville, will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22, in the sanctuary of Cookeville First Baptist Church. Interment will follow in the Cookeville City Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 5-7 p.m. Saturday at the Cookeville Chapel of Hooper-Huddleston and Horner Funeral Home and then on Sunday at First Baptist Church at 1 p.m. until time of services. Mrs. Mullins passed away suddenly Thursday evening, Nov. 19, 2015, at her home. She was born Jan. 17, 1926, in Pickett County, Tennessee, to the late Herbert Turney and Nina Belle Groce. Mrs. Mullins graduated from Pickett County High School in Byrdstown, Tennessee, in 1943. She married her sweetheart, Harlan Mullins. He went to fight for our country and she moved to Cookeville, lived with his parents and became a student at Tennessee Polytechnic Institute. She received her B.S. in Home Economics. A true teacher and dedicated to learning, she received her M.S./Home Economics Double Major: Child Development and Family Relations from The University of Tennessee in 1953. Her desire to further her education towards her doctorate degree led her to Peabody-Vanderbilt and Tennessee Technological University for advanced post-grad studies. Even though she did not realize her dream of acquiring her doctorate, it was definitely a huge accomplishment at that time to go as far as she did in her studies. After beginning her career at Tennessee Technological University in Sept. 1953, and receiving many many awards and honors, she retired as an Associate Professor in the School of Human Ecology in 2006! Serving her beloved university for 54 years! She truly loved her students and her students loved her! Highly respected in her field of studies, she was not only known as an expert in her knowledge of family relations, but she was also known as a student of The Bible. She daily challenged herself to learn and teach and make every day count. After retirement, she began what she called her "armchair" ministry...sending encouraging words to hundreds and hundreds of friends and family members and former students. Her passion for children was a driving force in her life through her profession and her life within the community through the Cookeville Pregnancy Clinic, both in helping in its establishment and being a counselor, teaching high school girls Sunday School class for 30 years and through her commitment to Children's Homes and programs that fostered...the love of children! She is survived by a son and daughter-in-law, Dr. Ralph and Shirley Mullins of Cookeville and a daughter and son-in-law, Deborah and Gerald Holland of Scotts Hills, Tennessee. Three grandsons and their wives, Dr. Stephen and Brittan Mullins of Cookeville, Keenan and Christy Holbert of Corryton, Tennessee, and Kurt and Melanie Holbert of Decaturville, Tennessee. She was blessed with seven great-grandchildren. Channing, Cameron, and Collier Mullins of Cookeville. Trece and Tenlee Holbert of Corryton, Tennessee. Jackson and Lainie Holbert of Decaturville, Tennessee. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Harlan Mullins, and her siblings, Rich, Hobert, Robert and Kendall Groce and Christine Koger. Pallbearers will be grandsons and nephews of Mrs. Mullins. Pastor Scott McKinney and Rev. Charlie Hutchinson will officiate the services. Numerous friends, colleagues and her grandsons will also take part in this Celebration of Life for Mrs. Mullins. Memorial contributions may be made to Tennessee Baptist Children's Home P.O. Box 2206 Brentwood, TN 37024-9885, First Baptist Church Cookeville 18 S. Walnut Ave Cookeville, TN 38501or The College of Human Ecology-Tennessee Technological University P.O. Box 1915 Cookeville, TN 38505. Hooper- Huddleston & Horner Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements (931) 526-6111. You may share your thoughts and memories at www.hhhfunerals.com.