Jewel Wear

Graveside services for Jewel Wear, who died Sunday night from an extended illness, will be at 2 p.m. today at Civitan Cemetery, U.S. 72 in Rogersville.

Born in Belgreen, Ala., in 1921, Mrs. Wear attended Florence State Teachers College and was a graduate of Mississippi College for Women. She attended the Mississippi college on a music scholarship.

She began her career as an elementary school teacher, teaching first and second grade at Weeden School. She went on to Wilson School, where she taught first grade.

Mrs. Wear opened the first antique shop in the Shoals and worked extensively in real estate, developing the Mansion View Estates subdivision, including the water system that supplied the area.

In 1964, Mrs. Wear began a career in the local music industry. She founded JJ Records with Junior Thompson and produced recordings on Thompson, Monty Olive and the Hacker Brothers for that label.

She also established the Music Scene column in the Florence Times-Tri-Cities Daily. It was the first column detailing the local music industry.

She is survived by her son, Louie Eldridge Wear. She was preceded in death by her husband, Louie Eldridge Wear Sr., and parents, Mary Lee Burroughs Britton and Dewitt Talmadge Britton.