Ethel Mahler

Funeral services for Ethel Welch McClain Mahler, age 92, of Murfreesboro and formerly Cookeville, will be held at 3:00 PM Sunday November 8th in the Cookeville Chapel of Hooper-Huddleston and Horner Funeral Home. Interment will follow in Cookeville City Cemetery in the Mahler family lot. Visitation will be from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM Sunday. Mrs. Mahler passed away Monday, November 2, 2015 about 5:00 PM, at AdamsPlace, Murfreesboro, TN. Services will be conducted by Dr. Sam Wood and Pastor Kevin Thomas. She was born at Bills Branch, in Overton County, Tennessee, Wednesday November 8, 1922, to the late Robert Andrew and Ova Ellen Welch McClain. Her family moved to Campaign, a community in Warren County, TN, where her father was the manager of the Campaign Wholesale Supply Company for Rocky River Coal and Lumber. The family moved to Cookeville when she was 8 years old and they lived on Willow Avenue and her father owned a grocery store in the B. Fox Building on the corner of First and Cedar Streets. She attended her first year of high school at Trevecca Nazarene College and then finished high school in Cookeville. She married Len K. Mahler on Saturday, May 17, 1941 in a ceremony performed by her maternal uncle A. P. (Abraham Poteet) Welch, a minister of the Nazarene Church in Monterey. Her paternal grandparents are the late Dr. Lemuel Rux McClain and Sarah Emily Burton McClain. Her grandfather McClain was one of the early physicians who located in Putnam County in the fall of 1866 and married into the Burton family of White Plains. Her maternal grandparents are the late John Wesley Welch and Julia Ann Ford Welch. Her grandfather Welch was a businessman and bank president in Monterey, Tennessee and gave the land for the Welch Memorial Cemetery. Mrs. Mahler moved from Cookeville in 2004 to Assisted Living at AdamsPlace in Murfreesboro. The family cites one of the reasons for her length of life is due to the great care she received from all the Nurses, CNAs, Techs, Activities coordinators, Dietary staff and Housekeepers. She moved from Assisted Living to their Assured Care and after several admissions to rehab she was transferred to their Continuing Care Area. Mrs. Mahler was a dedicated member of the First Church of the Nazarene where she taught Sunday school classes, worked in the church nursery, missions and any area she was needed. She was also a devoted worker in the VFW Veteran's Organization. She served as an officer in the VFW Auxiliary for many years. She also volunteered at the Cookeville Regional Hospital. Mrs. Mahler was the beloved mother of Daley (Joel) Love of Lakeland, Florida; Kelly (Karon) Mahler of Chattanooga; Jan (Bill )Spencer of Little Rock, Arkansas and Cynthia (Tim) Witzigreuter of Murfreesboro. Granny to Lori (Chet) Carawan, Joey Love, Kim Shields, Daley Mahler, Natalie (Mike) Roberts, Michael (Areeg) Spencer, Megan Witzigreuter, Max Witzigreuter Great-Granny to Chloe Carawan, Ashlyn Love, Eli Shields, Olivia Shields and Mason Spencer Mrs. Mahler was one of eleven children and the following siblings preceded her in death, John Robert McClain, Julia McClain Stephenson, Willie Elizabeth McClain, Lula Grace McClain, Lemuel Rux McClain, Abraham Poteet (A. P.) McClain, Clara McClain Clemons, Sarah Frances McClain Sumner, and Robert Andrew (Bob) McClain. She is survived by one sister Mary Gertrude McClain Wood of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, and a brother-in-law, Don Sumner of Nashville and a sister-in-law, Carolyn McClain of Nashville. Pallbearers will be Family and Friends Memorial donations can be made to the Tennessee Alzheimer's Association (1459 Interstate Dr, Cookeville, TN 38501), Parkinson's Association or Cookeville First Church of the Nazarene (360 S. Old Kentucky Rd, Cookeville, TN 38501). Hooper-Huddleston & Horner Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements 931-526-6111, hhhfunerals.com.