Blog no. 34

Leola Parham was born on December 4, 1922, in Carters Creek, Maury County, TN, to Frank Walker Parham and Mary Elizabeth “Lizzie” Kelley. She had five siblings. Their names were Bessie Walker (Parham) Hatfield, Mary Evelyn Parham, Marion Kelley Parham, Ruth Ellen “Dolly” Parham, and Farris Parham.

Leola and her sister, Bessie Walker, were very close. She wrote a story in the book, Spring Hill Everybody Has a Story, on page 157, that mentions her and Bessie Walker learning to make quilt tops with their mother in the early 1930’s. Quilt making had become a hobby for the Parham girls, which would last many decades.

On July 13, 1940, in Williamson County, TN, Leola married William Hervie “Hervie” Shouse. They had two children, and their names are Gerald Lloyd Shouse and Sharon Joyce (Shouse) Webb. In the 1980’s, after Hervie had died, Leola met Buford Nowell “Boots” Beard. She would later marry him, and he would build a home with her.

When she was young, Leola and her family moved to Spring Hill, TN. Leola would go on to live at a home at 5328 Main Street, where the home is now torn down and replaced by the Spring Hill Eye Care. Parts of the home and relics are preserved on the inside of the Spring Hill Eye Care building.

Leola was known for her green thumb when it comes to growing goods in her greenhouse which once stood on her property on Main Street. This is where she had met Mr. Beard in the 1980’s. The story is that Mr. Beard was at her greenhouse buying vegetables when Leola made him dinner and won him over by her cooking.

On February 5, 2023, the Columbia Daily Herald of Columbia, Maury County, TN, put out a story about Leola having just turned 100 years old. I had the opportunity, thanks to Alicia Fitts and Dave Campbell, to be there during the process of interviewing Ms. Leola.

Sadly, on August 14, 2023, in Spring Hill, TN, Leola died. She was buried in Spring Hill Memorial Park cemetery, in Spring Hill, Maury County, TN. Leola was one of the most sweetest people I knew, and I’m so glad to have gotten to meet her.