Nell Depp Stark Eaton, 92, Glasgow, died Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at the NHC Healthcare Center. She was born in Metcalfe County, Kentucky, December 15, 1929, the only child, to the late Guy Herbert and Myrtierene Ball Stark. In addition to her parents, her husband James Carroll Eaton, Jr. also preceded her in death.
Mrs. Eaton was a member of Glasgow Cumberland Presbyterian Church. She began teaching Sunday School when she was 12 years old at Antioch (Knob Lick) Cumberland Presbyterian Church. All total, she taught Sunday School for approximately 50 years. She served in various capacities in her churches and offices of the Women’s Work and sang in the choir until she was 81 years old also directing the Youth Choir for many years. Nell professed her faith in Christ on September 11, 1940 at the age of 10. Her Family and Church were her priorities throughout her entire life.
She attended a one-room school (Clark’s Corner) through eighth grade and graduated from Edmonton High School at the age of 16 years. Then to Lindsey Wilson College and she received her Master’s Degree from Western Kentucky College. (She taught five schools and earned her Master’s Degree during the course of eleven years.)
Her first year of teaching was in a one-room school at Walnut Hill in Metcalfe County. She ran the gamut from the one-room school to teaching in consolidation at Sulphur Well, KY for eight years. It was here that she initiated the Seventh and Eighth Grades Banquet and Graduation Exercises. From here, these exercises spread to all parts of the country. Next, she held the position of Supervisor of Instruction in Metcalfe County Schools for five years. She was selected Teacher of the Year in April 1957.
After moving to Glasgow, she entered the Glasgow City School System as a teacher and then became Guidance Counselor where she served as Counselor for 19 years before retiring with 37 years of service to the public schools. Following this retirement, she was an instructor in the Private Education Sector and finished her Educational Career teaching English-as-Second-Language to Japanese with 50 ½ years to her credit in Education. She was a member of the Local, State, and National Education Associations. She held her membership in the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) with great dignity. She was a member of the Glasgow Musicale. She also held Kentucky Real Estate Licenses.
She loved her surviving family so dearly. They are her daughter Carol Nell Eaton Mmahat and husband Joseph D. Mmahat; and her precious granddaughter Emily Allison Mmahat. Her step-son Larry Eaton and wife Glenda, and step-grandson Chris Eaton and wife Shelia, also survive.
Services will be held 2:00 p.m. Friday at the Hatcher & Saddler Funeral Home with burial in the Smith Cemetery in Metcalfe County where four generations of her Stark Family are buried. Visitation will be after 10 a.m. Friday at the funeral home. Alternate expressions of sympathy may take the form of contributions to the American Cancer Society, Glasgow Cumberland Presbyterian Church, or Gideon’s International.