“Jo” Grugett
July 14, 1956 – July 19, 2019
Grugett loved her cats. Pink was her favorite color and on the day of her death a pink daylily was blooming in her garden. She was an inspiration, a genuine profile in courage.
Dena Carolyn Grugett was a life-long resident of Covington. Relatives and close friends knew her as “Jo” or “Jo Baby”. She was athletic and loved swimming, horseback riding and playing basketball.
A graduate of Covington High School, she performed as a majorette for the ball teams here and while attending Memphis State University.
During the past 44 years she endured a crippling illness but seldom spoke of her pain and suffering. Covingtonians will remember her kind, courageous and fiercely independent spirit. When weather and health permitted she was seen on Main or Maple Street riding her bicycle, golf cart or motorized scooter on visits with friends, shops or the grocery. She was a Covington icon who loved her hometown, and was loved in return.
She was a member of the First Methodist Church before joining Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis where her mother and she worshipped for more than 20 years.
Jo was preceded in death by her father Bobby Jerry “Slick” Grugett and is survived by her mother Ann Carolyn Ralph Atkins, companions’ Wayne and Delynda Rhodes, Cynthia Fleet, Hosea Davis, Paulette Sykes, her cat Blackie and a legion of family and friends.
