Lou Ellen Hood Holcombe

Lou Ellen Holcombe
Greenviile, SC

Mrs. Lou Ellen (Hood) Holcombe went on to be with her Lord on September 17, 2018 after succumbing to an overpowering bout with cancer. She was the daughter of Walter Ernest and Flora Eva (Looper) Hood and wife of the late Harold Sullivan Holcombe (1922-2007). She is survived by her son, Jim Holcombe of Cocoa Beach, FL and daughter, Shirley Young of Greenville, SC, three granddaughters Danielle Duce (Steven) of Jacksonville, FL, Kendra Gustafson (John) of Tampa, FL, and Courtney Adams (James) of Williamston, SC, two great grandsons two great granddaughters, and a sister Mary Scarborough of Greenville.

In addition to her husband and parents, she was predeceased by a brother, J.T. Hood.

Born June 1, 1929, Lou Ellen grew up in the Powdersville community of Anderson County, marrying Harold on Feb 12, 1944. Harold was drafted into WWII shortly after they were married and served with the US Army Corps of Engineers in the Pacific Theater from 1944 – 1946. Lou Ellen accompanied him while he underwent training in OK, MO and MI, coming back to Greenville when he deployed to the Pacific. In the years after WWII, she and Harold continued to live in Powdersville, raising two children and being very active in Siloam Baptist Church's youth and adult programs. Their marriage spanned 63 years.

In addition to being a full-time homemaker, she also held multiple 40-hour week positions in industry. Through the 1950s and early 1960s, her career included being an equipment operator in textile mills at Judson and Dunean, and as a Quality Control Inspector at Mills Mill. She transitioned to retail sales in 1966 with the Belk Simpson Company where she managed operations in cosmetics, jewelry and women's apparel, serving as a floor operations supervisor and a buyer for women's apparel. Retiring in 1982, she pursued her passions through various channels that included opening her own boutique business (The Country Christmas Shoppe), working jointly with one of her lady friends in a catering business, and even working part-time as a Security employee at the Greenville Expo Center.

Lou Ellen had a special place in her heart for the men and women of our Military Services. As a young wife during WWII, with a brother as an Army Medic and a husband as a Combat Engineer, and later during the Viet Nam era having a son who served for 23 years in the US Navy, her personal experiences with the military services created in her a love for country and a deep sense of patriotism. Countless stories can be recalled of how she supported service members with small surprises and care packages from home. She baked and mailed fruit cakes and cookies at Christmas time for those she knew would not be home for the holidays. She sent cards and shoebox gifts to soldiers and sailors who were perfect strangers, knowing that an unsolicited gift from home would brighten their day. She made numerous donations of money and household goods to veteran organizations in several states, to the Wounded Warrior Project, and to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) for their Veterans support programs.

During her retirement years, she and Harold enjoyed traveling with their RV camper to various locations in the southeastern US for fishing, shrimping, sharing meals with friends and playing "Knock-Knock" and UNO. Her real travel passion, however, was cruise vacations. In her later years, her cruises took her to such destinations as Hawaii, Mexico, St. Thomas, Tortola, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antiqua, St. Kitts, St. Maarten and the Bahamas.

In 2005, she and Harold moved from Powdersville to the Ivybrooke neighborhood of Greenville. As often as her health would permit, she attended Roper Mountain Baptist Church and the First Baptist Church of Mauldin.

Services will be held at Robinson Funeral Home-Powdersville Road on Thursday, Sep 20th. The family will receive friends from 11:30AM – 1:30PM, with her funeral service at 2:00PM with burial to follow in Robinson Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers, she asked that memorials be made to the Wounded Warrior Project or to the Open Arms Hospice – McCall House in Simpsonville. Condolences may be expressed online at www.robinsonfuneralhomes.com/obituaries or at Robinson Funeral Home-Powdersville Road.