Dot Quarles-Clemons

Coleman Funeral Home of Oxford Dot Quarles-Clemons, 81, of Oxford, passed away on Wednesday, September 03, 2025, at Baptist Memorial Hospital- North Mississippi. The family will receive friends on Monday, September 08, 2025, from 1:00 P.M. until 3:00 P.M. at New Prospect Baptist Church. The funeral service celebrating her life will begin immediately following the visitation at 3:00 P.M. with Bro. David Ard and Bro. Steve Quarles officiating. Interment will take place in Tula Cemetery. Dot (as she preferred to be called [Do not dare call her Dorothy Ann!]) graced this world with her presence on June 22, 1944, in Jackson, Mississippi, as one of the two children born to the late Thomas Chester Denham and Ethelyn McGregor Denham. Dot was a woman of seeming contradictions. On one hand, even as an adult she loved collecting baby dolls, and her Precious Moments figurine collection rivals the Precious Moments museum. On the other hand, she loved the great outdoors and enjoyed porch swings, horseback riding, motorcycle trips, bear-sighting in the Smoky Mountains, scouting for Bigfoot, and, believe-it-or-not, mowing the grass. She sometimes said that her father never had the son that he had always wanted so he raised her to be a Tom-boy. Not surprisingly, she asked to be buried in her typical attire, jeans and an over-sized tee-shirt. She loved a celebration (which she preferred to call a “shindig”). Even in her later years, she could not resist a dance move or two anytime she heard an Elvis song. She enjoyed giving gifts and went to great extremes to make birthdays for her family special, even for the “party-poopers” among them. She constantly coaxed the busy members of the family to “stop and smell the roses.” She was emphatic that her primary calling in life was to serve as a wife and mother. Despite pressures from the culture and financial difficulties, she sacrificed other ambitions to faithfully fulfill her ministry to her family. Her secondary calling was Bible teaching. For six decades she taught the Bible at her local church. In the early years she taught small children and throughout her life she was moved with gratitude whenever she encountered one of her old pupils who fondly remembered her Bible lessons and the kindnesses she showed to them when they were kids. In her later years, she enjoyed teaching senior adult women. She spent hours every week studying her Bible to make sure that she fulfilled the mandate to “correctly handle the word of truth.” Her class attracted large numbers because of her strong and clear convictions, the clarity of her instruction, and her engaging teaching style. After over fifty years of marriage to Chester L. Quarles, she was surprised by the joy that found her in widowhood three years ago when she married Gerald Clemons, who faithfully fulfilled his vow to love and cherish her both in sickness and in health. She leaves behind a loving family to continue walking in her legacy of love; her beloved husband, Gerald Clemons of Oxford; one daughter: Kathy Baker and her husband Randy of Banner; four sons: Chuck Quarles and his wife Julie of Franklinton, North Carolina; Steve Quarles and his wife Wendy of Oxford; Mark Quarles and his wife Emily of Madison; and Mike Quarles and his wife Tammy of Oxford; fourteen grandchildren: Christopher Baker and his wife Beverly of Banner; Rebekah Carr and her husband Dustin of Banner; Benjamin Baker and his wife Savannah of Banner; Rachael Engen and her husband Josh of Tyner, North Carolina; Hannah Vindigni and her husband Johnny of Metairie, Louisiana; Josh Quarles of Louisburg, North Carolina; Joe Quarles and his wife Anna Lee of Oxford; Mac Quarles and his wife Katie of Oxford; Chyna Quarles of Oxford; Alaina Shearon and her husband Hunter of Oxford; Annalee Crawford and her husband John Anthony of Clinton; John Mark Quarles of Madison; Harlee Hale and her husband Steven of Oxford; and Cody Quarles of Oxford; twelve great grandchildren; two sister -in-laws: Grace Quarles of Gainesville, Georgia; and Mary Virginia Quarles of Gainesville, Georgia; one nephew: Bobby Peck of Tullahoma, Tennessee; and one niece, Dot Boyles of Tullahoma, Tennessee. Dot was preceded in death by her first husband, Chester Leland Quarles; parents, Thomas Chester Denham and Ethelyn McGregor Denham; and one sister, Marie Peck. As Dot watched darkness descend on this world, she increasingly longed to be “absent from the body” and “present with the Lord.” Her family and friends celebrate her homecoming. Though they grieve, they do not sorrow like those who have no eternal hope. They celebrate the assurance that the Savior who died for her and rose from the dead has wiped every tear from her eyes and will raise her for an eternity without sorrow, pain, sickness or death. They are assured that the God of all comfort, the healer of broken hearts, the Bright and Morning Star who shines the brightest when the night is the darkest will grant them peace and restore their joy until the day they are reunited in glory. In place of traditional flowers, the family has requested that donations be given to Wycliffe Bible Translators at the following link :https://www.wycliffe.org/donate Coleman Funeral Home of Oxford staff is honored to serve the family during this challenging season of life. Online condolences may be composed on her Tribute Wall at www.colemanfuneralhome.com

Dot Quarles-Clemons

June 22, 1944 - September 3, 2025

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