Judy Elizabeth Haven

Judy Elizabeth Tinsley Haven, "Mema" to many who knew her, of Cleveland, Tennessee, passed away on October 21, 2026, at the age of 85.

She was born on August 10, 1941, in Cleveland, the youngest of four children of Rando Ransom Tinsley and Willie Mae Tinsley. She adored and often spoke about her daddy, who ran a barber shop downtown and worked his farm. As a young woman, she worked as a carhop at The Rebel Drive-In Restaurant, sometimes flying across the lot on roller skates.

In her thirties, Judy turned an old school bus into a home and traveled the country in it. She said she lived in all 48 contiguous states, chasing friends, concerts, and the open road. Back on her country land where she had grown up, she helped build a second house for her family and kept a big garden of vegetables and flowers.

Judy spent much of her working life caring for others. She was a certified nursing assistant for many years and a lunch lady at Bowman Hills School and at a Presbyterian day care. Her favorite job of all came at the end of her working years where she worked as a forestry technician with the USDA Forest Service in the Cherokee National Forest. She cleared trails with a chainsaw and made rounds of the campsites, and she loved every minute.

Years ago, wanting a different life for her grandson, she joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church. She worked hard to give him a Christian education, and her family's faith today grew from that choice.

She loved black bears and timber wolves and collected knickknacks with those themes endlessly. She loved her Great Dane, Dana; her Jack Russell, Travis; and her finches. She never missed her daily Dr. Pepper, loved having her nails done, and treasured volunteering at the Samaritan Center. She loved Destin, Florida, endlessly talked about the beauty of Oregon, and regularly joked about Yanni and Leon Russell being her boyfriends. But most of all, she loved her grandchildren and great-grandchildren: reading to them, watching TV with them, and cuddling with them. Her door was always open, and everyone in her family came home to it at one time or another.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Rando Ransom Tinsley and Willie Mae Tinsley; her husband, Raymond E. Haven, Sr.; her son, Edward "Eddie" Owen Painter; her brothers, Norvin Albert Tinsley and Lee Randal Tinsley; and her sister, Laura Jean Hysinger.

She is survived by her daughter, Vicki Darlene (Painter) Botticelli; her grandchildren, Anthony Ray Botticelli (Avery), Alan Tracy Botticelli, James "Jamie" Edward Painter, and Kelli Shae (Painter) Ledford; her great-grandchildren, Venice, Avalon, Raylan, and Addison Botticelli, Seth Painter, and Madyson, Braxton, and Kynlee Ledford; and many friends.

A memorial service will be held on January 10, 2027, at 11 a.m. at Bowman Hills Seventh-day Adventist Church with        Pastor Leclare Litchfield officiating.