Jeanie Anderson

Jeanie Anderson, born Emma Jean Denton, died peacefully on Sunday, June 28, 2026. She was just shy of her 92nd birthday—a holiday that will be celebrated by family and friends here on earth while she dances on Heaven’s stage, most likely showing off her clogging steps to a lively rendition of “Rocky Top.”

Jeanie started her life as the “Baby Young’un,” the youngest of six children born to Emma and J.Y. Denton of Hiawassee, Georgia. She was born at home—a home that was later flooded by the waters of Lake Chatuge. When the TVA built the lake, the family moved to a new property that became known as Hills and Dales. Jeanie spent her childhood nestled in the mountains of Hiawassee. She graduated from Towns County High School before heading to Macon, Georgia, to pursue a degree in Early Education at Wesleyan College. She was proud to call herself an alumna of the world’s first women’s college. While attending Wesleyan, Jeanie met the lifelong friends who would eventually become known as the JUGs (Just Us Girls). After graduation in 1955, they reunited in Atlanta as roommates in an apartment they affectionately dubbed the “509 Club.” It was during this time that Jeanie began her teaching career at W.D. Thompson Elementary, across from Toco Hill(s) Shopping Center, where she taught for six years.

While living in Atlanta, Jeanie frequently returned to Hiawassee, bringing along her friends to bask in the purple mountain majesties she adored. They gathered at her childhood church, Friendship Baptist, on Sunday mornings after square dancing in town on Saturday nights. It was on one of those Saturday nights in 1955 that Jeanie met tall, handsome U.S. Army veteran and recent Western Carolina College graduate Ray Anderson. Conveniently, Ray was home for the weekend, and like Jeanie, he was living and working in Atlanta. The pair enjoyed many dates in Ray’s mint-green 1949 Chevy Coupe, including evenings at three Atlanta favorites that are still going strong today: The Fox Theatre, The Varsity, and Moe’s & Joe’s in Virginia Highlands. Their budding romance soon led to a wedding in December 1958. After the ceremony, they escaped the snow in Hiawassee and honeymooned in sunny Miami.

In their early marriage, Jeanie and Ray lived in University Apartments in Decatur, where they befriended several other young couples. In 1961, they built their first home off Briarcliff Road and moved in just before the arrival of their first daughter, Beth. In 1966, the family settled in the Oak Grove neighborhood, where they would remain for 58 years and welcome their second daughter, Amy. They found a church home at Briarcliff Baptist where they were members for 50 years and enjoyed fellowship with the Closer Walk Sunday School Class.

Throughout the 1970s, Jeanie taught kindergarten at Shallowford Presbyterian Church while she furthered her education, earning a master’s degree from Mercer University in 1980. The 1980s were the golden era of her teaching career—not because of lesson plans, but because of the friendships she formed with her colleagues at Stone Mill Elementary. Although she did receive the Teacher of the Year award, proving she occasionally made it into the classroom instead of talking and playing and playing and talking in the hallway with her teacher friends. The hallway antics may have deserved an award of their own!

Her spirited teaching career ended with her retirement in 1997 but was closely followed by her reign as Ms. Senior Georgia in 2001. As an avid TV pageant viewer and critic, Jeanie’s arm had to be only slightly twisted to convince her to become a contestant. Her clogging routine in bedazzled overalls stole the show and won her the crown and sash. The other contestants never stood a chance. She spent the

next 18 years traveling around Georgia with a group of former queens known as the Dazzling Dames. They entertained crowds in parades and at nursing homes with the goal of reflecting a positive image of aging and encouraging others to remain young at heart. It was also just plain fun to play dress-up and perform. There was never a stage that Jeanie didn’t love!

Amid all the pageantry, she also became Queen Granny to her four grandchildren. She spent as much time as she could with her grandbabies, making sure they were petted on, listened to, and properly fed, although she was rarely the one doing the cooking—unless microwave popcorn was on the menu. Her grandchildren were lucky enough to enjoy decades of vacations and holidays with her, including trips to the mountains and their cherished tradition of summer stays on Sea Island, Georgia.

At the youthful ages of 90 and 95, Jeanie and Ray embraced stress-free senior living by moving to Kings Bridge on Briarcliff Road. They kept the party going while reconnecting with old friends and making new ones, but they never lost touch with their cherished neighbors from Oak Grove.

In true Jeanie fashion, she was dressed up and made up for her grand finale on earth; somewhere in Heaven, there’s already a crown with her name on it. She sparkled and dazzled until the very end, but it was her faith and her personal relationship with the Lord that made her shine brightest.

Jeanie is survived by her first, and only, husband of 67 years, Ray Anderson, her daughters, Beth Anderson Fidler (Greg) of Warne, North Carolina, Amy Anderson Coates (John) of Dunwoody, Georgia, and her four grandchildren, Collin Fidler, Lauren Fidler, Hunter Coates, and Mary Emma Coates as well as dozens of nieces and nephews that adore their spunky Aunt Jeanie. In memory of Jeanie, please consider donating to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library or the Wesleyan Fund benefitting Wesleyan College.

The family would like to extend sincere thanks to the caregivers and staff of Personal Care, Inc. and Hospice Atlanta. Their tending to of both Jeanie and Ray has been kind, compassionate, and nurturing and is so appreciated.

A service celebrating Jeanie’s life will be held on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, at 11:00 am in the Pavilion at Kings Bridge. The family will receive friends from 10:00 am - 11:00 am before the service. 3055 Briarcliff Road, Atlanta, GA 30329