Gwyn Turner Tilley

Gwyn was born in 1943 in Lebanon, Tennessee, to Dr. Robert Phillips Turner and Betty Gregory Turner. She went to high school in Lebanon, then moved to Nashville to attend college. In 1964, Gwyn earned a B.S. in Office Administration from David Lipscomb University and in 1968, an M.A. in Business Administration from Peabody College of Vanderbilt University.

On July 19, 1968, Gwyn married Dr. K. Shannon Tilley in their shared hometown of Lebanon. Later that year, Gwyn and Shannon moved to Hawaii where Dr. Tilley was stationed at Tripler Medical Center as an ophthalmologist and where Gwyn taught school. Their years in Hawaii were ones that she treasured throughout her life.

Upon returning from Hawaii, Gwyn and Shannon settled into their Nashville home in Oak Hill where they have lived for 50 years.

Gwyn was a professor at Nashville State Community College for over 30 years where she started their Office Administration program. She was the Department Head of both their Office Administration and Business Management programs for many years, ultimately becoming faculty Emeritus.

Gwyn was a longtime and highly involved member of the Granny White Church of Christ, where she volunteered in various missions and ministries, including Inner City and Monday Meals.

Known affectionately to her family as “Gigi,” Gwyn will be remembered for her sharp wit, sense of humor, flawless complexion, thoughtful gifts, much-anticipated Christmas parties, and homemade sourdough bread (“Gigi bread”), that she hand-delivered to anyone ill in body or in spirit—or those who pretended to be ill to get her bread. Her generosity and her sense of fun were boundless.

Gwyn loved sewing, gardening, reading, watching sports (she was a long-time Vanderbilt basketball season ticket-holder) and the many cats she and Shannon have had over the years.

But, most of all, Gwyn loved “her people”: the “GNOs” (a “girls night out” group that has met for 47 years), her friends at church, her sewing circle at the Children’s Corner, and her family. She loved spending time with her nieces (two of whom are named for her, Gwyndolyn Lauren and Sara Ashley) and her grand-nieces and grand-nephews—for whom she custom-made countless garments with “Hand-sewn with Love by Gigi” labels attached. She lived one mile away from her niece, Lauren, and Lauren and Frankie’s four children, and was a meaningful part of their daily lives.

Gwyn is survived by her husband of 58 years, Dr. K. Shannon Tilley, her brother-in-law James William Tilley, her nieces, Cindy Tilley, Michelle Tilley, Lauren Turner Spero (Frankie) and Ashley Turner de Feria (Alex), her grand-nieces Charlotte Spero, Beatrix Spero, Flora de Feria, and Della de Feria, her grand-nephews Austin Finn, Sutherland Spero, and Whitaker Spero, as well as her cat, Gracie, and innumerable dear friends.

She is deeply missed and forever adored by all who knew her.

Visitation will be held from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, at the Church of Christ in Green Hills, 3805 Granny White Pike, with a service beginning at 1:00 pm. Private interment for immediate family will follow.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations be made to Faith Family Medical Center and Healing Hands International.