Clara "CJ" Mendenhall Autry

Mrs. Clara “CJ” Mendenhall Autry, 80, of Greensboro, passed away January 11, 2021, at Moses Cone Hospital.

A funeral service will be held at 10:00 am on Saturday at George Brothers Funeral Service. The burial will follow at Guilford Memorial Park.

Mrs. Autry was born on May 2, 1940 in Yadkin County to the late David and Martha Pearl Mendenhall. At eighteen, she met her air force man and married him less than a year later and then was sure to tell everyone that her first born was exactly nine months and nineteen days later. 

She was a member of Pleasant Garden Baptist Church and longtime pianist for True Light Baptist Church. She loved to share her time and talents with others and was known for her desserts and always having a pie on the counter. She routinely made recipe books to share with her family and her iconic recipes were full of butter and lots of love. She was a beautician for over 30 years, had her own beauty shop attached to her home, and welcomed the town into her chair. She always joked that the difference between a good haircut and a bad one was two weeks. On her Mondays off, she would make desserts and travel to nursing homes and play the piano for the residents. Other Monday activities included ironing all of Raleigh’s clothes, even his underwear and fixing homemade biscuits and fried chicken for her family. She will be profoundly missed by all that knew and loved her. 

She is survived by her husband, Raleigh Autry; children, Ronnie Autry (Kim), Richard Autry and Jennifer Hull (Ehren); grandchildren, Kellee Lehman (Brad), Megan King (Matt), Casey Flanders (David), Halie Biggs and Will Biggs; eight great-grandchildren; her brothers, David Mendenhall (Karen), Phillip Mendenhall (Janet) and Jimmy Mendenhall (Pat) and her sister, Lou Ray Poindexter.

The family will receive friends from 6-8:00 pm on Friday at the funeral home.

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