"For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (II Corinthians 5:1)

Erbis Washington Tennant departed from the earthly tent of her body on Friday, October 7, 2022. A family gathering at graveside took place Saturday at Dublin Memorial Gardens. A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, October 15, at 3:00 at First United Methodist Church in Dublin. Visitation will be held at the church prior to the service, beginning at 2:00.

Born in Randolph County, Alabama, on October 18, 1922, Erbis was the youngest daughter of the late Arthur and Eunice Shaw Washington. She was predeceased by her brothers: Ray, Harvis, Belton, and Felton Washington; and her sister, Ilene Washington Culpepper.Erbis graduated as valedictorian of Woodland High School in Woodland, Alabama, in 1941. Prior to her marriage, she worked for the State Employment Service and the War Assets Administration in Birmingham, Alabama. Erbis married Charles Tennant on May 11, 1947. They moved to Dublin in 1950 and together built a legacy of love for God, love for family, and love for their country and community.

As a young wife and mother, Erbis served as the first secretary at Dublin's Pine Forest United Methodist Church and worked in that capacity during the pastorates of its first three ministers. She also worked at Dublin's Farmers & Merchants Bank for many years. Together, she and Charles were active in their church and community until his death in 2010. Well into her 90's, Erbis was involved in the ministry of her church family, First United Methodist of Dublin. For over 30 years, she joyfully volunteered in local nursing homes.

Cooking meals of unsurpassed quality and quantity as well as making quilts for family members and friends were two of her most special talents. Charles would often tell his daughters, "Your mother is an artist!" and truly she was as she chose colors, patterns, and stitches with great care. She made well over one hundred quilts, none of which were ever sold because, as she often explained, "I make my quilts with stitches of love, and love is not for sale but for giving away." She was faithful to pray for those whose paths intersected hers. In her later years, when she would sometimes wonder why God had left her on earth for so long, she often acknowledged that she could still pray. Her faith in God's love and sovereignty did not waver. The longing of her heart was that everyone have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Erbis is survived by a host of family and friends who will daily miss her legacy of being thankful to God in all things–even in the hardest times, since darkness is where His light can shine brightest. Family members include three daughters, Julia Petrides Homeyer and her husband Chris; Doris Tennant; and Betty Hudgins and her husband Greg; plus eleven grandchildren, eighteen great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.

The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorial gifts be made to Dublin's First United Methodist Church, Dublin's ABC Women's Clinic (402 West Madison St.), KidsCup (2111 Claxton Dairy Rd.), or to the donor's charity of choice.