Obituaries

Edith Louisell

Edith Powers Louisell, 73, died on Tuesday, July 23, 2013, from complications of dementia. She was born on Feb. 24, 1940, in Keams Canyon, Ariz. She also lived in New Mexico, Washington D.C., Grand Bay, Ala., and was a resident of Chattanooga since 1961.Edith is survived by her husband of 52 years, C. J. "Hap" Louisell, of Chattanooga. She is also survived by a son, Christopher Louisell, of St. Paul, Minn.; son, Scott Louisell, of Chattanooga; daughter and son in-law, Jeannine and David Stout, of Chattanooga; granddaughter, Connor Louisell and grandson, Jack Stout, both of Chattanooga. A beloved extended family member, Carol Burns, lives in Jacksonville Fla.Edith attended Mobile County High School in Grand Bay, Ala., and was a 1961 graduate of Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala. She later earned a masters degree in secondary mathematics education from The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and a masters degree in mathematics from Middle Tennessee State University. She also completed additional graduate studies in ancient Chinese mathematics and fractal geometry at Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg, the University of California at Berkeley, and Aurora University in Illinois.While at UTC she was named to Kappa Delta Pi, a national education honor society and to Pi Mu Epsilon, a national honorary mathematics fraternity.She was a teacher from 1969 to 1979 in various elementary, junior high, and high schools in the former Chattanooga Public Schools. She then taught mathematics from 1979 to 1987 at Notre Dame High School. From 1987 to her retirement in 2002 she taught mathematics at Ooltewah High School. Edith was also on the adjunct mathematics faculty of Chattanooga State Technical Community College for several years.During the early part of her education career she was honored by inclusion in the Outstanding Elementary Teachers of America annual publication, and the Outstanding Young Women of America annual publication. Also during that time she was a finalist for the elementary school Teacher of the Year award in the Chattanooga Public Schools.In her younger years Edith was active in cub scouting, and was a speaker for the Panel of American Women, an organization dedicated to the promotion of religious and racial tolerance. She was also active on the local, regional, and national levels of the Christian Family Movement, an ecumenical organization fostering spirituality, family values, and peaceful civil rights, human rights and pro-life activities involving the whole family.Edith was a two-time winner of the Lyndhurst Foundation Teachers Award allowing her to pursue her interest in ancient Chinese mathematics at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. and at the Joseph Needham Research Institute in Cambridge, England. Needham was one of the worlds most respected scholars of Chinese history.She was a founding member of the Chattanooga Area Mathematics Teachers Association (CAMTA), an affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). In 1990 she was the publicity chairperson for the CAMTA-sponsored regional NCTM conference held in Chattanooga which saw a record attendance.She was a member of the Hamilton County Education Association, Tennessee Education Association, and was a life member of the National Education Association. She was also a member of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Retired Teachers Association.Edith was proud of her Irish heritage, and visited her paternal grandfather's original home in County Westmeath, Ireland after researching family records and church records in the Emerald Isle.Edith was a lifelong Roman Catholic and a member of St. Jude Catholic Church since moving to Chattanooga in 1961. She represented St. Jude Church on the first Council of the Laity for the Diocese of Nashville in the early 1970s. Over the past 52 years she was active in almost every ministry offered at St. Jude, most recently as a Eucharistic minister and lector. After retiring from teaching she was a part-time volunteer in the kindergarten reading program at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School.The Louisell family extends its sincere thanks to Hospice of Chattanooga for their care and compassion during the last months of Ediths life.Instead of flowers, the family suggests that donations in memory of Edith be made to the Alzheimers Association or Hospice of Chattanooga.Visitation will be at St. Jude Catholic Church, 930 Ashland Terrace, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, July 29, with a prayer service at 6:30 p.m.A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Jude Catholic Church on Tuesday, July 30, at 11 a.m. with celebrants Fr. Charlie Burton, Monsignor Al Humbrecht, Fr. Mike Nolan.Interment will follow at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in East Ridge.Funeral arrangements are by Advantage Funeral & Cremation Services Franklin-Strickland-Pinkard-Bryan-Smith Funeral Directors, 1724 McCalIie Ave., 423-265-4414.

Published July 28, 2013

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