Emma "Granny" Jean Hensley

September 28, 1934 - December 24, 2019

Emma Jean “Granny” Hensley, 85, of Matthews, NC, and formerly of Candler, NC, and Polk City, FL, died on December 24th, 2019, in Monroe, NC. Emma was born in Swain County, NC, on September 28, 1934, the daughter of Carl and Jeanette Reed Elliott. She grew up in Franklin and then moved to Asheville to attend the Nurse Training Program at Memorial Mission Hospital. While there, she met a young man named Robert Tate Hensley, an outgoing spirit who walked into a room of strangers and left a room full of friends. While Emma was quite the opposite, she was attracted to his sense of wit and charm. She went on to marry and spend her life with him until his death in 2008. She attained the credentials to earn the title of Registered Nurse and worked as a pediatric nurse at Memorial Mission where she was known as “Granny” to all the children there as she prematurely started getting gray hair. And while most would lament the early onset of gray hair, Emma took the fact that the children called her “Grannie” as a badge of honor and even later in life, as her memory began to fail, she never forgot the term of endearment so many children bestowed upon her. A fixture to not only the patients, she was also well known amongst the staff. In the late 1990’s, she eventually retired as a nurse and she and Robert moved to Florida full time after spending numerous years there during the winter as “Snowbirds”. While retiring formally from nursing at Memorial Mission, she spent her later years with Bob remaining a nurse for him, caring for his needs, being an informal nurse to her friends and family wherever she was, and enjoying retirement. When not working, she enjoyed many other things in life. Travelling with Bob and spending time in their camping club while travelling around in their camper was always a favorite pastime. When more downtime was to be enjoyed, she was an avid reader. Blessed to use her hands, she also enjoyed sewing and craftwork. Most of all, as evidenced by her years of nursing, she loved being around children, friends and family and using her talents to serve. Emma is survived by her daughter, Tamra (husband Kenneth) Davis of Matthews and a granddaughter Kristina Davis of Matthews. She is further survived by numerous other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Robert. The family of Lowe-Neddo Funeral Home has been given the privilege of caring for Emma and her family. At her request, Emma was cremated and private services were held. Thank you for the thoughts, prayers and acts of kindness during this time. In honor of her lifetime of nursing and caring for others, the family respectfully requests memorials in Emma’s name be made to the Hospice Program of Mission Memorial Hospital, https://missionhealth.org/services-treatments/hospice/locations/ or any local charity of the your choice that deals with nursing, hospice or memory care.