Carolyn Lulu Hipp Hester

Carolyn Lulu Hipp Hester
Carolyn Lulu Hipp Hester, 86, formerly of Lawrenceburg and currently of Spring Hill, TN, died Monday, August 24, 2020 at 8:30 p.m. after a fall and an extended illness, at the home of her son. She was surrounded by family in whose care she had spent her remaining months.
Born in Tula, MS, a community close to Oxford, Carolyn grew up the only child of the late Louis Howard Hipp and the late Roxie Dell Harris Hipp near Potlockney Creek. After graduating Valedictorian of her high school class she earned Bachelor’s degrees in both English and Bible from Blue Mountain College in Mississippi. After college she worked for the Baptist Sunday School Board (now Lifeway) before marriage took her from that job, of which she was very proud.
Married to the late Harvell Alonzo Hester for over 62 years, his work with Southern Airways had them living briefly in Albany GA, Dothan AL, Memphis TN, and Atlanta GA before settling in Columbus MS from 1972 until 1987. They then resided in Lawrenceburg, TN for the last 30 years until Harvell died in 2018. She then moved to Willow Springs Assisted Living to be near her son and his family in Spring Hill, TN. She spent two years at Willow Springs where she developed many close friends of the staff and residents. Her final two months she lived with her son and his family where she was an enjoyable personality and welcome addition.
In Columbus, Carolyn worked as a counselor’s secretary at Caldwell High School from 1974 until 1987. She enjoyed the work and was very active at First Baptist Church in Columbus for the entire time they lived there.
In 1987, with another job transfer, the Hesters settled in Lawrenceburg, TN on Wesley Chapel Rd. Sometime after that, she got a job as a church secretary at Leoma Baptist Church where she worked for almost a decade. She believed that a church secretary was a called position and, because of that, she beat out twelve other candidates for the position.
After that, her final job, she and Harvell traveled extensively in their fifth wheel travel trailer, both independently and as members of the Davy Crockett Good Sam Club, to which they belonged for two decades. She held the position of club secretary for many years. She served as Statewide Secretary for the TN Good Sams for several years and they traveled through more than 30 states, including Alaska.
She was a member of the Highland Park FCE for over 20 years, until its demise and held many leadership positions there, from secretary to president. She faithfully attended Immanuel Baptist Church and was a proud member of Rose Martin’s Sunday School class and Keith Durham’s Training Union class. She served on the Friends of the Lawrence County Public Library Committee for several years, as well.
She will always be remembered for her unfailing practice of sending friends and loved ones cards or notes on their birthdays and anniversaries. She kept a calendar full of dates and would typically send out a card or two each day, which were much appreciated by the recipients. She served on the Immanuel Baptist Church Bereavement Committee, and both before and after that time was forever making and taking dishes to families who suffered loss. She was an avid reader and averaged three or more books a month for many years before the Lord took her. She will be remembered as a kind, generous, opinionated, smiling woman with a great capacity for Bible knowledge as well as English syntax and grammar, who loved her family, especially her two grandchildren.
She is survived by her son: Brooks (Mary) Hester; and two grandchildren: Louis Judson Hester (18) and Rachel Naomi Hester (14); plus numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews.
Funeral services for Carolyn Lulu Hipp Hester were held at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 27, 2020 at Neal Funeral Home. Burial followed at Gum Springs Cemetery, Lawrenceburg, TN. Memorials may be sent to the American Cancer Society. Though Carolyn did not have cancer she lost her father and many friends to this disease and it was a cause about which she was very passionate. Neal Funeral Home was in charge of all arrangements. Condolences may be sent by way of: www.nealfuneralhome.net.