Lina Isanhour
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Lina Clare Isanhour, 92, died on March 8, 2021. She was the daughter of the late Ernest Clyde Isanhour, Sr., and Agnes Allsopp Isanhour, and sister of the late Ernest Clyde Isanhour, Jr.
Ms. Isanhour attended the Atlanta and Fulton County schools. She graduated from the Napsonian School in 1946. She received her BA degree from Oglethorpe University, her MA degree in Political Science from the University of Georgia, and her EDS degree also from the University of Georgia. While at Oglethorpe University, she was President of the Honor Society and named in Who's Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities. As a graduate student at the University of Georgia, she was a member of the political science honor society, Pi Sigma Alpha. She received a teaching assistantship and taught each semester at UGA while getting her Master's Degree.
Ms. Isanhour was a teacher in the Atlanta Public Schools for 32 years. Her first eight years were in elementary education, and the last 24 years were in high school social studies at Brown High, where she served as chairman of the Social Science Department, and sponsored the Honor Club. She was Legislative Chairman for Atlanta teachers' association for five years, where she worked toward bringing Atlanta teachers under the State Teachers' Retirement Program.
Following her retirement from the Atlanta Public Schools, Ms. Isanhour worked at The Lovett School as Administrative Assistant and Community Relations Coordinator. She was active in volunteer work at the Smyrna Public Library, and served as Editor of "The Link," the quarterly newsletter of the Friends of the Smyrna Library. For several years, Ms. Isanhour taught a genealogy course at the Smyrna Library, and was instrumental in building a genealogy section there. For her work in genealogy, it was recommended to the Smyrna City Council that a room at the library be named for her; subsequently, the Mayor of the City of Smyrna issued a proclamation so naming the department, and a bronze plague was placed there naming the Clare Isanhour Room. Later, another proclamation was issued and a tree planted in her name at the Taylor-Brawner House in Smyrna for her assistance in finding some of the descendants of those who lived in the house.
Ms. Isanhour wrote several books on family history and local history. All may be found in the Library of Congress as well as in local libraries. One was on the life and descendants of Hardy Pace, who was an early settler and developer of the Vinings area in Atlanta. For this volunteer work, she was honored by the Vinings Historical Society with her name being placed on a brick at the Solomon Pace House in Vinings. Another important local history she wrote was on the early settles of Meriwether County, Georgia.
There are no immediate survivors.
Funeral services will held on Saturday, March 13, 2021 at 10:00am at Smyrna First United Methodist Church. Burial will take place immediately following the service at Arlington Memorial Park in Sandy Springs, GA.
In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to the Smyrna First United Methodist Church, 1315 Concord Road, Smyrna, GA 30080, or to the Genealogy Department of the Smyrna Library, 100 Village Green Circle, Smyrna, GA 30080.