Neena Ledbetter

1940 - 2025

Neena Victoria Ledbetter of Oxford, Mississippi, passed away on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, at the age of 84 after a brave battle with cancer.

Ms. Ledbetter was born on September 23, 1940, in Fort Smith, Arkansas, to Victor Ledbetter and Ruth Osgood Ledbetter. She was the granddaughter of W.C. and Georgia Carter Ledbetter of Benton, AR, and O.W. and Estella Clawson Osgood of Uniontown, AR.

She is survived by: two sons, Kent (Rachel) and Kevin (Hilarie) Bain, of Blue Mountain and Oxford, MS, respectively; granddaughter Taylor Ann and grandsons William, Sam, and McCord Bain; one great-grandson, Jamie; and three nieces and two nephews. She was preceded in death by her grandparents, parents, stepmother Gladys Hodge, and brothers Norris Hodge of Marianna, AR, and Curtis Hodge of Albuquerque, NM.

She graduated from Benton High School and received her B.A. in English from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where she was a member of both Alpha Delta Pi and Eta Sigma Phi honor society. In 1969, she received her M. Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX.

Early in her career, she taught in Benton, AR; Fort Worth and Everman, TX; and, later in life, in Memphis City Schools and Whiteville Correctional Facility, TN. She was Director of Volunteer Services at Methodist Hospital of Memphis, where she completed their Clinical Pastoral Education program. She pastored Ellis Chapel and Central United Methodist Church near Earle, AR, and then served as Associate Pastor at First United Methodist Church in Jonesboro, AR.

Ms. Ledbetter was a Board Certified Chaplain, Retired, and a member of the Association of Professional Chaplains-BC Chapter. She served several hospices in Tennessee and, in 1994, founded and became executive director of the Regional AIDS Interfaith Network (RAIN), training volunteers from various churches and synagogues in the Memphis area in caregiving.

Upon retiring, Ms. Ledbetter resided full time in her modest condo on English Mountain in her beloved Smoky Mountains. Tragically, the building burned to the ground less than six months later.

She regrouped, relocating to Tupelo, MS, where she joined the First Presbyterian Church and taught Bible Study at the Regional Mental Health Center. She subsequently moved to Oxford, MS, where she attended the local Quaker Meeting.

Ms. Ledbetter donated her body to the Medical Education and Research Institute in Memphis through their Genesis Whole Body Donation Program. A memorial service is being planned; if you are interested in attending, please email kentbain@yahoo.com.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to The Nature Conservancy.