Ruby Joyce Bates Dodd , age 78, of Florence, AL, passed away Monday, November 5, 2012. Joyce was born November 11, 1933 at Cypress Inn, TN to the late Thomas and Ida Weaver Bates. She was united in marriage to Arlie H. Dodd on May 27, 1951 and he preceded her in death on November 2, 2006.
Joyce was a retired merchant and of the Baptist faith.
She is survived by sons, Keith Dodd and wife, Marie and Marty Dodd; grandchildren, Sarah Norton and husband, Steve, J. T., Victoria, Alexandria, and Carrington Dodd; sister, Mollie Fowler; and numerous other relatives and friends.
Other than her parents and her husband of 55 years, she was preceded in death by brothers, Wesley, Clarence, and Cleo Bates and sisters, Myrtle Hanback and Ollie Stricklin.
Services will be Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 1:00 PM at Shackelford Funeral Directors Chapel, Collinwood, Tennessee, with Emerald Bailey, Everett Rich, and Gerald Montgomery officiating. Burial will follow in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Cypress Inn, Tennessee with Shackelford Funeral Directors, Wayne County, directing. Pallbearers will be Chris Stricklin, Randy Stricklin, Tommy Stricklin, James Stricklin, Jeremiah Robbins, and Jeff Bates and honorary pallbearers will be J. T. Dodd and Carrington Dodd.