Henry Ellen (Preece) Lockhart

Henry Ellen Lockhart, of Jackson, Michigan, left us Saturday, April 12, 2025, at Jackson County Medical Care Facility, surrounded by loving friends and family. She was born October 13, 1935, in Chattaroy, West Virginia, the daughter of Harvey M. and Essie (Blackburn) Preece.

She is survived by her daughter, Patricia Small of Lansing, and six brothers and sisters: Betty Muncy of Inez, Kentucky, and Frances Callahan, of Cincinnati, Ohio, Garmon David and Lowell Thomas (LT), both of Inez, Kentucky, William (Bill) of Georgetown, Kentucky and Brenda Preece-Collins of Inez, Kentucky.

She was preceded in death by her parents; one son, Garry Dale Small; her husbands, Perry Small, George Gordon and Carroll Lockhart; four brothers, Troy, Chester, Bradley and William Oke; and by three sisters, Kathleen Grimes, Floretta Kirk, and Olivene Burns and several dear nieces and nephews.

Special praise goes to her nephew Roger Kirk and niece Tammy Walker for their devotion to monitoring her care and giving her so much love and support. Also, a special thanks to Garmon and Lowell Preece for officiating and handling services in Michigan and Kentucky. Ellen had a talent for numbers and managing people. At age 26 she was already running a small restaurant in La Canada, California. In the 70s she moved to Arkansas and started a farm. In the 1980s she moved to Houston, Texas, to work in a family business and in the 1990s she moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she, her sister Kathleen and Kathleen’s husband Chuck opened their own jewelry business. Did I mention Ellen loved jewelry? In the beginning of this century, Ellen retired to Jackson, Michigan, where she and her three oldest sisters spent over a decade together sharing travel, holidays and all the pleasures of watching the Preece family evolve through time.

Visitation at the Hampton Funeral Home in Jackson is on Wednesday, April 16th at 10 am for family and at 11am for friends with a service to follow at noon. At her request, a service will be held in Inez, KY on Saturday, April 19th at the Crum Funeral Home beginning at 12:00pm and a visitation from 11:00am until the time of the service, with burial to follow in the Preece Family Cemetery.

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