Annie Alma Myers Shearer
Annie Alma Myers Shearer
After blessing all who knew her, after 104 years, Jesus welcomed our great-aunt Annie Alma Myers Shearer into His loving arms on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2021 at 12:05 p.m. A very special image of love, our great aunt Alma has been healed!
She was preceded in death by her husband: Henry Albertus Shearer; parents: Mattie Ella Sutton Myers and Ulysses Simpson Myers; and eight siblings.
Aunt Alma is survived by a host of nieces, nephews, great, great-great, and great-great-great nieces and nephews.
She was born August 21, 1916 on the family farm located on Hurricane Creek Road in Giles County, TN. Her roots in the region run deep, beginning with her Harwell, Sutton, and Myers forebears who were among the earliest settlers in the 1800’s. Alma’s childhood home-place, including the cabin, remains in the family to this day.
She was a woman of deep faith. She attended Wilburns Chapel Church of God located up the steep Hurricane Creek road. Her niece fondly recalls joining her occasionally on the trek up the hill to attend weekly services.
When WWII started, Aunt Alma and sister, Margaret moved to Chattanooga to help in the war effort, packing soldier rations to be sent around the world. She attended North Chattanooga Church of God while working in the war effort. After the war, they relocated to Nashville to be near family and to seek work opportunities. She worked at a garment factory, a grocery store and the B&W Cafeteria.
Through a mutual friend, she met and married Henry Shearer, “the man of her dreams”. They lived in Pennsylvania for a while before returning to Nashville, where they became active members of The West Nashville Church of God. After the loss of her beloved husband, Alma moved to the Villa Maria independent living facility in Nashville. She spent the last years of her life at the Vanco Manor nursing home in Goodlettsville, TN, where she was well loved and cared for. She maintained her cheerful disposition and sense of humor to the end.
Although Aunt Alma married late in life and never had children of her own, she showered maternal love on all who knew her. The spiritual impact she had on everyone, especially her nieces and nephews, played an important part in all our lives. One of her nephews always asked if she had ever committed a sin. Alma would humbly say, “I probably have”. His nick-name for her was “Moody”. This struck everyone as funny because that word was exactly opposite of her personality and spirit.
On visits at the Villa Maria and Vanco Manor nursing home, she would ask if I paid my tithes and “how did I feel in my body?” She would also ask about the giant hickory nut tree that shaded the home-place cabin and the peach trees that once grew by the spring. She ended many visits with a song: “This World is not my Home, I’m only Passing Through!”
She often quoted Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the Judgment.” She wanted everyone to be saved and would tell of Jesus’ love every chance she had. Her spirit was real and true. How can a person lie in bed bound for countless days with a sweet, sweet spirit … always happy and at peace, loved by all her caregivers, visitors and family? How did she maintain such joy and peace in her condition? Only one word – Jesus!
Graveside services and a time of reflection and burial were held for Annie Alma Myers Shearer at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, February 22, 2021 at Forest Lawn Funeral Home in Goodlettsville, TN. Memorial contributions may be made to the Vanco Manor, Goodlettsville, TN.
