Charlotte Branstetter

Born in Harrogate, Tennessee on April 17, 1924

Departed on August 14, 2017 and resided in Nashville, Tennessee

Charlotte Branstetter passed away on August 14, 2017 at the age of 93. She was born in Harrogate, Tennessee to the late Charles Albert and Nora Hyatt Coleman. She met her future husband, Cecil Dewey Branstetter, while he was a student at Lincoln Memorial University. They married in 1944, and while he was stationed in Europe, she worked at the Pentagon. When he returned from the war and finished his degree, the young couple moved to Nashville, where he attended Vanderbilt Law School and she worked for the Veteran's Administration. Four children came in quick succession, but as she raised her family, Mrs. Branstetter still found time to meet her civic responsibilities.

A charter member of the Davidson County Democratic Women's Club and the Children's International Education Center, Mrs. Branstetter was also a member of the Young Lawyer's Auxiliary of the Nashville Bar Association, the Woman's Club of Nashville, the League of Women Voters, and the Tennessee Conservation League, serving as President of its Auxiliary. She was elected to the State Democratic Executive Committee from the 5th Congressional District for five terms, beginning in 1952. Mayor Richard Fulton appointed Mrs. Branstetter to serve on the Public Library Board, where she worked for sixteen years toward her goal of making libraries accessible to all Nashvillians. She also served on the Boards of Family and Children's Service, Tennessee Association for the Blind, Crittenton Services of Nashville, Tennessee Committee on Housing, and the Citizens Advisory Committee on Housing and Urban Development. Her involvement in the United Nations Association led to her being chosen to represent the state of Tennessee at the 1979 International Year of the Child Conference in Washington, D.C.

Mrs. Branstetter was an active member of Brook Hollow Baptist Church where, for many years, she taught an adult women's Sunday School class. Her love for flowers led her to serve on the Board of the Tennessee Federation of Garden Clubs and to serve as president of the Bellevue Garden Club. Soon after becoming a docent at the Tennessee Executive Residence, she realized that the mansion's flowers could be grown locally. She developed a plan with the Department of Corrections for the flowers to be grown at the state prison. Seeing the opportunity to provide job skills to prisoners, she became a member of the Volunteer Advisory Board of the Tennessee Department of Corrections and initiated a prison horticultural project that both beautified Tennessee and trained prisoners for employment in horticulture. Her efforts were chronicled in National Geographic. Mrs. Branstetter also made time to serve as a volunteer at Central State Hospital and Metro Bordeaux Hospital. She was a lifelong learner who took a variety of classes at Peabody College and Vanderbilt University, but her favorite study was always oil painting.

While she loved and served her community, Mrs. Branstetter's deepest commitment was to her family. She is survived by her children, Kay Johnson, Linda Roach, Jane Stranch (Jim), and Dewey Branstetter (Julie). She was Mamie to ten grandchildren, Hayden Travis Mauk (Maureen), Fletcher Mauk (Dr. Page), Dr. Courtney Johnson Kihlberg (Peter), Benjamin Johnson (Tatum), Gerard Stranch, Abigail Stranch Tylor (Nathaniel), Dr. Ethan Stranch (Dr. Nicole), Grace Stranch (Anthony Stachowiak), Hunter Branstetter, and Austin Branstetter (Catherine). In her later years, her greatest joy was her great-grandchildren, Anna and Erik Kihlberg; Dixon Johnson; Finn and Lucy Mauk; Gus and Teddy Stranch; Hudson, Aiden, and Eleanor Tylor; and Victoria Stranch. Mrs. Branstetter is survived by two sisters, Susie Taylor and Helen Richardson. She was preceded in death by her husband, four brothers, two sisters, and two sons-in-law, Donald Johnson and Dr. Ben Roach. The family is grateful to Sadie Jackson, Tatyana Heughan, and Jerry Atler for the care they provided.

Mrs. Branstetter was a member of Immanuel Baptist Church, 222 Belle Meade Boulevard, where visitation will be held on Thursday, August 17, from 5 to 7 p.m. A private interment will take place at Middle Tennessee State Veteran's Cemetery. The memorial service will be conducted at Immanuel Baptist Church at 2 p.m. on Friday, August 18; immediately following, the family will receive friends in the church's Fellowship Hall. In lieu of customary remembrances, memorial contributions may be directed to the Charlotte Branstetter Art Fund at the FiftyForward J.L. Turner Center (Bellevue YMCA) and mailed to FiftyForward, 174 Rains Ave., Nashville, TN, 37203; or to the charity of your choice.