Beulah Mae “Boots” Gass, 92, passed away peacefully January 9, 2019 at home with her children present.
Boots was born March 5, 1926, in Greene County, Tenn., the third daughter and fifth of seven children of Andrew Johnson McIntosh and Molly Myrtle Hensley McIntosh.
She was raised in the Church of Christ and attended a one-room schoolhouse as a young child. She impressed both her teachers and the older students with her precocious spelling ability. Her love of words was enduring. Boots played basketball in high school, after which she worked at Woolworth,s while her sweetheart, Bill, served his country in France. They married soon after his return and began their family.
Bill and Boots moved to Fernandina with their five children from Chattanooga, Tenn. in April 1963. Bill managed Hardee Brothers Hardware in downtown Fernandina for 23 years until it closed in July 1987. Boots worked alongside Bill in the hardware store for 16 years, both in the office and on the floor, doing everything from mixing paint to weighing nails. Previous to her time in the hardware store, Boots worked as an accomplished dressmaker and tailor, stitching everything from wedding trousseaus to men’s sports coats. She was a founding member of the Amelia Island Quilters Guild, entering and winning awards for her quilts both in Fernandina and Jacksonville. Bill and Boots enjoyed square dancing, gardening, and restoring Victorian homes, which they accomplished both in Fernandina and North Carolina, where they owned and operated a bed and breakfast for several years. Boots was active in First Baptist Church (downtown) teaching Sunday school, maintaining the clothes closet, and visiting and taking meals to shut-ins. When not volunteering her time with those outside her family, Boots was always available for childcare (and pet care) for her children.
Boots was preceded in death by her husband of 68 years, William Ross “Bill” Gass, on May 15, 2014.
Boots is survived by her children and their spouses, Janette (David) Parrish of Blacksburg, Va., Connie (Steve) Craver of Winston-Salem, N.C., Bill (Pat) Gass Jr. of Fernandina Beach, Fla., Cindy (Ron) Fetch of Athens, Ga., and Charles (Sunhee) Gass of Fernandina Beach; 13 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service is planned for a future date.
Green Pine Funeral Home, Cremations & Cemetery