Elihu Meador

Elihu Meador passed away peacefully at his daughter Melinda's home in Knoxville on March 14, 2012. Born in Kingswood, Kentucky, on March 30, 1926, he served in World War II, graduated from Murray State University, and attended graduate school at the University of Kentucky before making his home on his beloved wife June's family farm outside Gleason, Tennessee. Eli devoted his career to agriculture first as a high school teacher and later as a farm credit manager and real estate appraiser. Having lived through the Dust Bowl years with his family in Nebraska, he was committed to soil conservation and stewardship of the land, and was a long-time director of the Middle Fork of the Obion River Watershed. He was an avid sportsman who loved to hunt and, in his later years, enjoyed grafting and growing pecan trees. A member of Olivet United Methodist Church, he will be remembered for his integrity, his quiet faith, and his many acts of kindness bestowed on all those he knew. He will be deeply missed by young and old alike. In addition to his wife, his daughter and her husband Milton McNally, Eli is survived by his son Lem and wife Bonnie Barclay, and his grandsons Jake and Cale who were his pride and joy, as well as step-grandsons Christian and Jordan McNally, sister Amelia Tate, sister-in-law Toni Meador, and numerous nieces and nephews. A graveside service was conducted at Campbell Cemetery on the family farm on Saturday, March 17, 2012. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Campbell Cemetery in care of the Bank of Gleason, the Weakley County Public Library, and the American Cancer Society.