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- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 10 Sep 2006.
Giles Family sparks long tradition of auto parts sales
- [S120] A Place Called Home: Our Story, David L. Popiel, Duay O'Neil, et. al., (2006, The Newport Plain Talk / Jones Media Inc.), dpopiel@xtn.net., 110.
- [S113] Manes Funeral Home, (http://www.manesfuneralhome.com), 10 Apr 2010.
(January 26, 1940 - April 10, 2010)
U.S. Veteran Ronnie Lane, age 70 of Newport passed away Saturday, April 10, 2010 at his home. He was a veteran having served in the US Air Force, during the Vietnam War. He was of the Baptist faith. He is preceded in death by his parents, Creed Lee and Neppie Byrd Lane; brothers, Jimmy, William, and Earl Lane; and sister, Lorceil Lane. He is survived by his wife, Pat Lane; step-mother, Kate Lane; brother Roger Lane and wife Vesta; sister, Sandra Trent and husband Clark, all of Newport; special nephews, William and Jordan Shelton; also many friends and family. Graveside service will be held 11:00 am, Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at Resthaven Memorial Gardens, with military honors. The family will receive friends from 6-8 pm Monday, April 12, 2010 at Manes Funeral Home.
Family and friends may sign the guest register on line at www.manesfuneralhome.com
Manes Funeral Home in charge.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 13 Apr 2010.
Ronnie Lane, former Cosby business owner, dies at 70
Author: Duay O'Neil
COSBY-Graveside services for Ronnie Lane, former Cosby business owner, will be held at 11 a.m. this morning in Resthaven Memorial Gardens.
Lane, 70, died Saturday at his home after several years of declining health.
From 1983 until 1991, Lane and his wife Pat owned and operated Lane's Grocery in Cosby, which they purchased from his cousin, the late Eugene Murrell. Known as the "old Ronald Denton store," the business continues to be operated by their nephew, Sean Lane, and is one of the oldest, continuously operated businesses in the county.
Lane was born in 1940 in Bogard, a son of the late Creed and Neppie (Byrd) Lane, whose families were among the earliest settlers in that portion of the county. Following his retirement from business and as his health worsened, Lane spent countless hours researching and recording the histories of his and his wife's families and freely shared his findings with other genealogists. For many years, he was a familiar fixture at Stokely Memorial Library's genealogy room where he enjoyed talking with other researchers and often offering them help in their own studies.
In an interview with Plain Talk co-publisher David Popiel several years ago, Lane recalled watching military airplanes fly over his boyhood home during World War II on their way to the west coast.
He also recalled his father's purchase of a battery-operated radio in the mid-1940s and how the family gathered around it to listen to "The Midday Merry-Go-Round" and to another Cocke County native, the late Homer Harris, who played "Little Brown Jug."
Another favorite story was about the arrival of electric power in the Bogard community and how his father dug three six-foot holes for the power poles and how customers received a card each month to record their power usage. After the cards were returned to the company, the customers then received their bills.
He also remembered the arrival of telephone service during this time, when customers were placed on eight-party lines, which he referred to as "gossip lines."
In the early 1950s, Lane, as a young teenager, began working for his cousin, the late Robert "Bob" Murrell helping to mow, rake, and put hay in the barns as well as working in the tobacco.
Following his graduation from high school in 1958, he worked for Bush Brothers Canning Company for a year, then moved to Cleveland, Ohio in 1959 to join his sister Lorceil and work there.
In December of 1961, he received his draft notice and joined the United States Air Force the following February. A four-year stint in the service took him to such places as Hawaii, Guam, the Philippine Islands, Okinawa, Thailand, and Alaska.
Following his discharge from service, Lane returned to Cocke County where he met his future wife, the former Pat Suggs. They wed on October 13, 1966.
Prior to the couple's purchase of the store, he worked for an insurance company at different times.
After purchasing the store, Lane quickly became popular with the neighborhood children for his practice of giving them candy and was later nicknamed "The Candy Man" by Popiel.
In addition to his legacy as a business owner, Lane will also be remembered for his relentless pursuit of justice for his deceased brother Jimmy Lane, then 45, who owned and operated the Bryant Town Restaurant.
Two men were later arrested and convicted for the murder and sentenced to long prison terms.
As long as his health permitted, Ronnie Lane faithfully attended every parole hearing to oppose the release of the convicted killers.
In addition to his wife, Lane is survived his brother Roger Lane and wife Vesta and sister Sandra Lynn Lane, stepmother Kate Ellison Lane, all of Newport; sister-in-law Louise Denton Lane of Gilbert, SC; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law Billy Hugh (Joann) Suggs, Jimmy Lee (Kathy) Suggs, all of Parrottsville, and Janette (Darrell) Stiltner, of Newport; and many nephews, nieces, great-nephews, great-nieces, and good friends and neighbors.
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