Mandeline Lee Hess

Early Sunday morning, July 16, 2023, the world lost a beloved soul as Mandeline Lee Hess passed away peacefully at the age of 81.

Mandeline was born in Lee County,Arkansas, on April 3, 1942. She was the youngest child of Robert Lee and Bertha Shaffer Lee. As farmers’ children do, Mandeline told many fond stories of picking cotton with her Daddy.

Eventually, Mandeline (Mandy to her friends) moved to Memphis and attended cosmetology school. It is during this time that she met and married Eugene Phillip Hess on February 24, 1962. They bought 3 acres in the little-known town of Collierville where Gene started Hess Plumbing Company and Mandy worked as a beautician from their home. In 1968 they adopted their daughter Amanda Jean Hess followed by the adoption of their son Albert Lee Hess in 1969. Gene passed in 1971 after a battle with cancer leaving Mandy widowed with two small children. She spoke of times when she didn’t know how she was going to buy milk; she would go to the mailbox to find $20 left by the kind people of the community.

Ever resilient – and skilled with finances – Mandy raised the children, paid off the property, and saved for the future. She met Greg Hall in 1987 while working at Booth Hardware. Together they started a small engine repair business, purchased an 80-acre farm in Moscow, and built a farmhouse overlooking the pond. This was her favorite place. She loved looking out the window and seeing all the wildlife – deer, owls, eagles, other birds, fishing in the pond – it was her joy.

Mandy was an active member of the Oak Grove Baptist Church in Moscow, TN, where she found comfort, guidance, and a sense of belonging within her spiritual community. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the church or to Project Outreach in her memory.

• Oak Grove Baptist Church, 1960 Oak Grove Drive, Moscow TN 38057

• Project Outreach, 9245 Poplar Ave, Ste 5-317, Germantown, TN 38138

The family has chosen to have a small graveside ceremony in Arkansas. She will be laid to rest at a later date next to her first husband in the family cemetery. She leaves behind her children, Amanda Hess (Roger Albee) and Albert Hess (Norma), grandsons Gregory Hess and Trustin Hess, her nieces Charlotte Sparks Caldwell and Betty Sparks Jumper, as well as many great nieces, great nephews, and many dear friends in Collierville, Moscow, and the Fayette County area.