Eleanor Sims Quattlebaum

Eleanor Sims Quattlebaum, age 93, died peacefully on October 23, 2015. She was born in Monetta, South Carolina, on April 14, 1922, to Joseph Earl and Sallie Hite Sims, and was the youngest of three daughters. She graduated from Monetta High School where she was both a basketball star and a top student, leaving for Anderson Junior College at age 16. Shortly before her high school graduation, she met her future husband, Nixon Quattlebaum, in Batesburg in a cafe owned by his parents. By 1941, they were married, a long and happy marriage that lasted more than 70 years until Nixon's death in late 2011. They had an extraordinary love story and delighted in each other's company every day they were together. Eleanor was a woman of many accomplishments. She learned to drive at the age of 11 to help her father on the farm and ran the family farm when Nixon was away in World War II. She taught school, was the secretary at Ridge Spring Monetta High School for many years, and retired as the Monetta postmaster. All during those years of work, she came home every day at lunchtime to make a hot mid-day meal for her husband, her mother, her children, and for any and all visitors her husband might have invited. She was a genius at stretching meals to feed extra guests, pulling from her freezer, her garden, and her creativity to make meals everyone would long remember and frequently long for. Her biscuits and pound cakes were legendary. She was a woman of deep faith and a member of the Bethel Baptist Church her entire life. She taught the Women's Sunday Class for 50+ years, headed the Women's Missionary Union, and had a prayer group that often met at her home. She is survived by a daughter, Ann Quattlebaum Curry, and her husband James L. Curry, of Atlanta; by a son, Thomas Nixon Quattlebaum, of Monetta; by four grandchildren: Kelley Curry (Josh Weiss) of Boston MA, Nick Curry (Cara Tasher) of Jacksonville FL, Michael Quattlebaum of California, and Marion Quattlebaum of Charlotte NC; and three great-grandchildren: Julia and Chloe Weiss-Curry of Boston and Mia Tasher Curry of Jacksonville; by her sister Virginia Sims Kirkland of Spartanburg SC; and by 13 nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband Walter Nixon Quattlebaum, by her sister Marjorie Sims Jordan, and by her beloved grandson Andrew Quattlebaum. She lived most of her life on one farm in one small community, but her ambitions for the education and experiences of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren were without limits. The family is deeply grateful to the staff of Generations of Batesburg Leesville, where she spent the last year of her life, and to Joanne Harrison who cared for her and loved her. They are also grateful to family friend Melissa Weatherly for her special friendship to Eleanor during her final months. A service to celebrate her wonderful life will be held at Bethel Baptist Church in Monetta on November 7, 2015, at 11AM. In lieu of flowers, the family requests gifts to the Deacons' Fund for Families in Need, Bethel Baptist Church, P.O. Box 68, Monetta SC 29105, or to the charity of your choice.

Service:

11:00 AM Saturday, November 7, 2015

Bethel Baptist Church