Clare Terry Stallings

1933 - 2024

Clare Terry Stallings, 91, passed away peacefully on March 27, 2024 after a brief illness.

Clare is survived by her children, Ellen Stallings Webb, Dana Stallings Brandon (Ray), and Paul Stallings (Lori); grandchildren, John Perry Pipkin, Emma Brandon Brown (Eddie), and Ben Wilson Brandon; nieces, Meredith Jordan Jennings (Don), Meg Jordan Murray (Richard, deceased), and their families. She is also survived by her sweetheart, Dr. Jim Levernier. She was preceded in death by her sister, Margaret Terry Jordan, and grandson Joseph Miller Pipkin.

Born in Memphis, March 21, 1933 to Margaret and Clarence Oscar Terry, Clare graduated Central High School and attended Southwestern at Memphis (Rhodes College). She enjoyed a long career as an office manager with architects Gassner, Nathan and Partners.

Affectionately known as "Gram" to her grandchildren, Clare treasured spending time with her four grandkids, exploring museums, gardens, and historic cities together.

She served church and community causes tirelessly and volunteered for the Suicide Hotline. She registered voters and worked at the polls, and in 1985 helped found Dismas House Memphis to feed and house the formerly incarcerated.

For the last 32 years, Clare was an active member of Idlewild Presbyterian Church. She organized the Faith and Function Sunday school class, waved an LGBTQ flag as an ally in the Mid-South PRIDE parade every year, helped found Idlewild's MICAH Core Team to address social justice, and co-led the McMerton Community Garden ministry in Binghampton for 17 years.

Clare was a longtime member of her book club and enjoyed gardening and traveling with Jim, including driving across France to visit the homes of her favorite Impressionist painters.

The family particularly wants to thank neurologist Lucas Elijovich, M.D. of Semmes Murphey Clinic and Baptist Memorial Hospital's in-hospital hospice team for their compassionate care.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Idlewild Presbyterian Church or specified for Idlewild's Room in the Inn at https://onrealm.org/idlewildchurch/-/form/give/now. Donations for McMerton Gardens can be made payable to Center for Transforming Communities, Inc. 258 N. Merton St. Memphis, TN 38112, with McMerton Gardens specified.

A Service of Witness to the Resurrection will be held in the Idlewild sanctuary at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, April 5, 2024 with a reception to follow.