Leona Mae Lunney

Born April 11, 1929 in Bayhead, Nova Scotia to Roy Layton Grant and Annie Leota Henderson, died on October 19, 2025, in Paris, Tennessee. Leona is survived by her 3 children, Roy Lunney (North Carolina), Anna Lunney (Tennessee), and James Lunney (North Carolina), and her brother, Harry Grant (Canada). She is also survived by 9 Grandchildren, 17 Great-Grand Children, 6 Great-Great-Grandchildren, and several nieces and cousins. She was predeceased in death by her parents, Stepmother Jessie, and brothers Walter and Dexter.

A little history….
As a young woman she worked in Baddeck, Cape Breton at the Alexander Graham Bell Estate. The Bell family loved her and invited her to work in their Frederick, Maryland home after the summer. Leona returned to Bayhead (outside of Tatamagouche Nova Scotia) shortly after to 'help Father' looking after her brothers following the premature death of her mother. Leona later returned to the US, continued working and married a US serviceman, Norman Lunney. A few years after World War II, they were posted to Paris, and two years after that in Germany, before returning to the US in Frederick, MD. Leona continued working; she managed PX's - US military retail/ commissary stores until she retired and moved to Florida in the late 1980's. She ultimately followed her daughter to Tennessee around 2011, where she remained until she passed. While she was able to - into her 90s - Leona travelled home every summer to her cottage in Bayhead - down the road from her mother's home - that had been her mother's home.

A granddaughter's perspective…
My Mee Maw (she was way too cool to be called Grandma or Granny) was the loveliest person I have ever known. I am so thankful that I had her for all of my childhood and most of my adult life. She was kind and welcoming to everyone she encountered. She was an avid reader and loved to knit. She loved Lawrence Welk and Kenny Rogers. She lived a full and productive life on several continents and travelled to many countries. I don't think there could have been much left on her bucket list. In the last several years, she was more inclined to stay at home, but she was always talking about her next trip back home to Nova Scotia. It will be my greatest honor to take that final trip with her, to bring her home. A memorial service to celebrate her extraordinary life will be held in late June 2026 in Bayhead, Nova Scotia which will be announced through Coulter's Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Alzheimer's Foundation of America (donerservices.alz.org).

Written by Shannon Young and Suzanne Grant