On November 11, 2023, Robyn Carole Walton Padgett (age 50), a loving and nurturing wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, friend, and colleague peacefully and unexpectedly passed away while sleeping.
She was born in Nashville, TN, to her parents John and Elizabeth Walton. Over the course of her far too short life she lived for a time in Ohio, Kentucky, and Virginia, with the bulk of her life lived in Tennessee.
Robyn graduated from Brentwood High School. She attended Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro and graduated from Austin Peay State University (Clarksville, TN) with a bachelor’s degree. Tennis provided scholarships for her undergraduate studies. She earned two master’s degrees—one from Trevecca Nazarene University in marriage and family therapy and her second from Murray State University (KY) in (MAE-school counseling). She completed some of her school counseling degree coursework at The George Washington University (Washington, DC).
She spent her life serving others. She spent years working in school-based and community-based behavioral health services (Centerstone; Bluegrass; St. Joseph’s), volunteering with DAR and CAR, and culminated her career as a school counselor (most recently in Bedford County, formerly in Rutherford, Williamson, Marshall, and Giles Counties). She was always looking for ways to enrich the lives of others.
Robyn’s greatest service was dedicated to the pride and joy of her life, her daughter, Natalie. She also cared for the family which so deeply loved her back. Through her work she was an adamant advocate for the behavioral health needs of the young people she encountered. She was a strong proponent for the importance of the mental health aspects of education and the journey of life. She would often say “school counselors are not guidance counselors or teachers” and advocated for others to have that same understanding.
Athletics played a large part in her life. She played softball growing up and tennis for much of her life. You would often find her wearing a Murray State, or more likely Vanderbilt gear (both brothers graduating from the latter). She enjoyed many Vandy basketball games over the years, even able to change some of her husband’s ‘big blue’ love to ‘anchoring down’ appreciation.
Robyn loved to travel; most recently traveling in October on a cruise to the Bahamas with her husband and recently an extended trip to Hawaii with her mother, daughter, and husband. They truly were trips of a lifetime for her.
She is preceded in death by her father, John Wayne Walton; mother-in-law, Margaret “Margo” Maude Wiseman Padgett; brother, Richard John Walton and sister-in-law, Kimberly Anne MacCartney Walton; grandparents, Dr. Atlia Hazel Ellis and Hilda Natalie White Ellis, and John Van Allen Walton and Clara Walton; and aunt, Jacqueline Hazel Ellis Mepyans, and uncle, Martin John Mepyans.
She is survived by her husband, Jason Hunter Padgett and daughter, Natalie Elizabeth Padgett, both of Spring Hill, TN; mother, Elizabeth “Betty” Ann Ellis Walton of Brentwood, TN; parents-in-law, Joseph “Joe” Hazel Padgett and Regina Lynn Padgett of Elizabethtown, KY, brother, Eric Van Allen Walton and wife, Mary Elizabeth Bartlett Walton of Memphis, TN; sister, Catherine Anne Walton Muff and husband, Thomas Steven Muff, of Spring Hill, TN; brother-in-law, James “Bart” Barton Padgett and wife Katina Padgett of Burkesville, KY; sister-in-law, Tammy Elizabeth Padgett of Spring Hill, TN; nieces, Emily Ellis Walton of Memphis, TN and Martha McKinney Cunningham, and husband Scott Cunningham, of Chattanooga, TN; cousins, Renee Robinson and husband, William Robinson, of Nolensville, TN, Kevin Mepyans, of West New York, NJ, and Alisha Adams and fiancé David J Perkins of Brentwood, TN. There are many, many friends, co-workers, and students whose lives were impacted by her love and service. One special mention of Cynthia (Bradley) Leonard (and husband Jim), of Medford, NJ, in appreciation for connecting Robyn (endeared as “Robean”) and Jason.
A funeral service will be at Noon (Central) on Monday, November 20, 2023, at Brentwood United Methodist Church (BUMC), 309 Franklin Road. Visitation will be held 2:00PM-5:00PM on Sunday, November 19, 2023, at Spring Hill Memorial Funeral Home, 5239 Main Street, and one hour prior to the service at BUMC.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to any of the following:
- the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention (https://theactionalliance.org/donate), an organization Robyn felt strongly about and a leading entity in the field of suicide prevention (Jason works for EDC, the home organization which would be reflected on donation receipts).
- the Travellers Rest Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (https://www.tndar.org/~trdar/) an organization Robyn, her mother, sister, and extended family have served for many years.
- the Judge John McNairy Society of the TN chapter of Children of the American Revolution (contact Elizabeth Walton), an organization which Robyn, Natalie, and many members of the family have participated in.
- BUMC Foundation (https://bumc.net/give/foundation/) or BUMC (https://bumc.net/give/), supporting the efforts of BUMC, where Robyn was as a life-long member.
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