Henrietta Murphy Foster

Henrietta (Murphy) Foster was born on May 29th, 1924 at the home in rural Dickson, County, Tennessee, to James Edwin Murphy and Edith Henrietta (Jobe) Murphy and she passed from this life on Sunday September 9th in Dickson, Tennessee. She was 94. Henrietta was a lifetime Dickson County resident and was a 1942 graduate of Charlotte high School. Subsequently Henrietta married the love of her life Noah James Foster. They would be blessed in the coming years with three children Janet, Ivan, and Willard. They shared a set of core values which they passed along to their children, hard work, honesty and integrity. Theirs was a marriage which lasted 52 years. Henrietta loved her family and would do anything for them. To a great extent their daily lives centered on the farm, although Henrietta was quite a bit more than a stay at home mom. She worked outside the home for many years first at Siegel’s in Dickson and later at Jostens in Clarkesville. Henrietta liked to cook and prepare meals that were both nourishing and tasty. Reunions with family would usually find her with a mouthwatering pecan pie along with home fried chicken and a dozen other dishes. She took great pride in her family both the immediate ones and her extended family, she was quick with praise when a niece, nephew or great nephew had excelled. Henrietta was a master craftsman when it came to quilts. It seemed like she made them all the time, for grandsons, great grandchildren and even friends of the family. The designs were frequently varied but made universally with love. She was a good neighbor and was always willing to share what she had with others, whether from the garden or from the many fruits and vegetables that she canned each year. During harvest each year, Henrietta was in the kitchen busily preparing the midday meal to feed a hungry group of men who had been in the fields all day. When you get right down to it, Henrietta just liked people and she liked to spend time with them. She especially loved it when her daughter came to visit. It seems like Henrietta always had a garden. She took great pride in keeping it up, after one particularly difficult surgery she talked the doctor into letting her go home, he agreed but only if she would take it easy. The next day found her hoeing weeds in her garden. The fruits and vegetables that were not eaten would wind up in glass jars that were “put up” for future use. She also loved growing flowers around her home and in pots on the patio. Henrietta was a loving wife and mother, a good friend, and a gentle soul. She was preceded in death by her husband, N. J., her parents; her brother Hubert Murphy, her sisters Annabelle Stokes, Mildred Murphy, Evelyn Frazier, Ethel Reeves, and Kate Ann Sands; she is survived by her daughter Janet Newman and husband Richard of Dickson, sons Ivan Foster and wife Sarah of Dickson and son Willard Foster of Slayden; grandsons Richard and wife Katie Newman of Humble, Texas and Daniel Newman and wife Angela of Lee’s Summit, Missouri; three great-grandchildren, Danielle, Amber and Collin as well as countless nieces, nephews and friends. Visitation 11-2:00 p.m. Saturday, September 15, 2018 with Funeral service to follow at 2:00 p.m. conducted by Bro. Garland Breeden. Interment in the Foster/ Schmittou Cemetery. Arrangement by Spann Funeral Home (615) 446-1123