Mary Nell Ledbetter Sullivan, 91, of Chattanooga passed away Thursday, November 12, 2020. She was born in Memphis, Tennessee on April 3, 1929 to Walter and Hanna Barron Ledbetter. Her family moved to Winchester, TN when she was an infant. She was raised in Winchester and Tracy City and was a 1947 graduate of Grundy County High School. She worked her way through Beauty School and graduated in 1953. She Owned and operated Nell’s Beauty Shop for 55 Years.
Nell was a longtime active member of East Ridge Church of Christ.
She was an avid Tennessee Vols and Lady Vols fan, going to see the SEC Ladies basketball Tournaments well into her 80s and attending football games at Neyland Stadium until she was 88. For many years she was a fixture at games in her UT logo “Vol Van.”
In her younger years she was known to race Trans Ams on the interstate in her 455 Rocket powered Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser. Driving 100 mph around Harrison Bay on Highway 58 because she was late to church was not an infrequent occurence.
A five foot tall combination of spitfire and bulldozer, she remained active and driving herself wherever she wanted to go up until the last two months of her life. She left this life in the same manner she went through it…. on her own terms.
She was preceded in death by her parents and all eight siblings, a son, Lewis C. Van Hooser and her husband, Arthur H. Sullivan.
She is survived by three sons, Wayne VanHooser of Tracy City, TN; Nathan (Carole) Van Hooser of Dalton, GA and Gerald Van Hooser of East Ridge, TN; six grandchildren, Michelle, Clint, Coleman, Candice, Julia and Shelbie; eight great-grandchildren; three great-great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at 2 PM Sunday at the East Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, 404 South Moore Road with Minister Steve Plemmons and Minister Charles Cochran officiating. The family will receive friends from 1-5 PM Saturday at the funeral home.
Burial will be in Chattanooga National Cemetery at 10:30 AM Wednesday.
Please share your thoughts and memories at www.ChattanoogaEastChapel.com.
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