Cora Stovall, christened Johnnie Cora Stovall but called “Cora” all her life, was born in Huntland, TN in the family home August 29, 1912.
While Cora flourished, her twin sister did not and died shortly after birth. Cora spent her formative years in Huntland and attended school there, where she developed a love for learning.
She graduated from high school just at the time of the Great Depression and after the death of her father, She, her mother and her sister moved to Hiwassee, TN, where her mother was fortunate enough to have a job as a dietitian at the college there. At a later date, the family returned to Huntland, and Cora taught school during the school year and attended what was then MTSU in the summers. She tells the story of spending the night with her students in the “school house” because it had rained so hard that the creeks were flooded and no one could get home! When Cora received her degree with a major in math, she began to teach at the local high school in Huntland. In the meantime, a high school principal that she and her family had met while at Hiwassee had told her that if she ever did get a college degree and needed a job, she should contact him. Thus began her career at Dobbins Bennet Junior High School in Kingsport, where she lived and taught math for over thirty years. Even though she spent many years in East Tennessee, her heart remained in Huntland, and she returned there every holiday and every summer until she retired in June, 1977 and moved permanently to Huntland.
Following the death of her sister Ruby’s husband Grover Pogue, she and Ruby lived together n the family home there. When Cora could no longer live alone, she moved to Chattanooga to be near her nieces.
Cora never married but is survived by a family that loved her well and communed with her often. She has two nieces, Shirley Pogue Caldwell and Sue Pogue Sawrie, both of Chattanooga, and one nephew, Rex Franklin Pogue of Columbia, TN. A second nephew, John William Pogue, died in 2002. In addition, she has ten great nieces and nephews and fourteen great-great nieces and nephews, all of whom are planning to celebrate her 100th birthday August 29, 2012!
A funeral service will be held at 2:00 PM on Sunday, August 5, 2012 in the Moore-Cortner Chapel with interment to follow at Moore Memorial Cemetery in Huntland.
Visitation with the family will be Sunday from 12:30 to 2:00 PM at the Moore-Cortner Funeral Home, 300 First Ave. NW, Winchester.
Watson-North Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.