Suzanne Deakins

“She made the broken look beautiful and the strong look invincible. She walked with the universe on her shoulders and made it look like wings.”

Suzanne Elizabeth Deakins, 46, of Jonesborough, found her eternal peace on May 5, 2024 after a brief stay at Johnson City Medical Center.

Suzanne is survived by her parents Teresa Gillenwater Deakins and John B. Deakins Jr, her brother John Deakins III and fiancée, Erin Johnson, ex-husband Jay Quaintance and their children, Oliver and Samuel Quaintance, uncle David Gillenwater, aunt Deborah Deakins (Mike), aunt Linda Sherfey (Lloyd), cousins Allison Sherfey, Catherine Finnigin (Brian), Helen Nemeth (Stephen), Teri Pierce (Shane), and Cristina Brittin (Stephen), friend Charles London, along with many other family and friends.

She was predeceased by grandparents Joanne Cates Deakins and John B. Deakins Sr and Aleen Pierson Gillenwater and Ralston H. Gillenwater, and aunt Linda Gillenwater.

Miss Deakins earned a degree in geriatric studies in 2004 at The University of Tennessee in Knoxville. She continued to live in Knoxville after graduation and worked as a social worker until the birth of her first child, when she became a full-time mother. Throughout her life she continued to use her skills in geriatrics, the field that she loved so much. Suzanne moved back to Jonesborough in 2018, where she remained until her passing.

Suzanne was the light of our family. She was generous, loyal, dedicated to putting others first. She was clever and full to the brim with knowledge gained through all of her life experiences as a mother, social worker, caregiver, farmer’s daughter, horrendous driver, and shade tree mechanic. With a joyful heart Suzanne would repair something minor on your car, free of charge- but not before sending you into the store to ask for blinker fluid.

Forever proud of her children, she touted them her “greatest accomplishments.” Suzanne was a fiercely loving, supportive, and protective mother to her two boys.

Her spiritual journey was fraught and therefore hard won. She never left behind the teachings of Christ. She was a principled woman of integrity, always in search of the truth. She came full-circle in her beliefs in her final months.

Even in the face of her own struggles, Suzanne remained a steadfast friend and confidante to everyone she knew. Her legacy will carry on forever in the acts of kindness she imparted to others. This woman left a trail of pay-it-forward gestures from here to Knoxville and back again.

Suzanne was a strong fighter, but she is now sailing on a journey to shores we cannot see. Her time on earth was too brief, but the impact she had was profound and everlasting

The Deakins family will honor Suzanne's life with a Graveside Service on Saturday, May 11, 2024, in Sulphur Springs Cemetery beginning at 1 p.m. with Pastor Scott Brady officiating. Everyone who wishes to attend the Graveside Service is asked to meet at the cemetery by 12:50 p.m. Everyone is invited to a reception that will follow the the Graveside Service in the Fellowship Hall of Sulphur Springs Methodist Church.

In lieu of flowers, the Deakins family has requested that donations be made in Suzanne's memory to the Community Help Center 1591 TN 81 Scenic Jonesborough, TN 37659.