Lena Norris Braswell, 89, loving wife of the late Adam “Hoyt” Braswell, entered into her eternal rest Saturday evening, Dec. 30, 2017, at Augusta University Medical Center. Funeral services will be held in the James Funeral Home Chapel at 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 3, 2018 with Reverend Chad Watkins officiating. Interment will follow in the Wrens Memorial Cemetery.
The eldest of four children born to the late Millie Ellis Norris and the late Alfred Norris, Lena was a lifelong resident of Wrens, where she was a member of Wrens United Methodist Church. After graduating from Wrens High School in 1946, she began working with Southern Bell in Augusta and Wrens as a telephone operator. She later owned and operated Braswell’s Service Station for many years. Having married a farmer, Lena loved the land and was proficient in the use of all farm equipment. A challenge to grow gourds for her aunt turned into a business as gourds on the vine near her home drew interest from travelers on U.S. Highway 1. She began posting in the Georgia’s Farmers & Consumers Market Bulletin, and The Gourd Farm quickly became a go-to gourd supplier in the southeast, making Wrens “the Gourd Capital of the World”. Growing up in the depression era, Lena was a hard-worker and well-respected business woman. Her sometimes hard, no-nonsense exterior housed a heart of gold. She was a lady who said what she meant, and meant what she said. Wrens has lost an icon of the community whose memory will forever be in our hearts.
Lena is also preceded in death by her siblings, John Norris, Pete Norris and Sara Norris Wooten. Survivors include her children, Linda Braswell Torpy (John) and Clinton Braswell; her two grandchildren, Ashlee Torpy and John Torpy III (Kelli); two great grandchildren, Tate Torpy and Abi Torpy; special friend, Marjorie “Lillie Ree” Harris; nieces, nephews and many friends. Serving as pallbearers will be Joe Braswell, Robert Lane, Mike McGahee, Roger Phillips, James Snipes and John Torpy III.
The family respectfully requests that in lieu of flowers memorial contributions be made to the church she loved—Wrens United Methodist Church, 202 Russell Street, Wrens GA 30833.
The family will receive friends at James Funeral Home from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday evening, January 2, 2017.
Visit www.JamesFHWrens.com to sign the guestbook and to post condolences.
James Funeral Home, 630 North Main Street, Wrens GA in charge of arrangements for Lena Norris Braswell.