Obituary of Polly M. McLeod

Polly M. McLeod of Knoxville passed away peacefully on Friday, February 14, 2025, at the age of 96. Born October 7,1928, in Nashville, Tennessee, to Mary Jared and Thomas Edwin Miles, Polly was educated at Ward Belmont and later graduated from the University of South Carolina where she was a member of the Tri Delt sorority. A striking beauty from her earliest days, Polly was an accomplished tennis player and won many competitive tournaments during her life. She was adventurous and travelled extensively; from pony trekking on the Isle of Raasay to a hot-air ballon ride over the Serengeti at sunrise to a mule ride down the Grand Canyon. Polly was married to Robert Lawrence McLeod, Jr. of Sumter, South Carolina. They had three children, Robert Lawrence McLeod, III, Jennie Rembert McLeod and Laura Miles McLeod. Business opportunities took them from Sumter to Atlanta, Georgia when their children were very young. Polly and Bob soon attracted a wide circle of friends for life. Ever the entertainer, Polly quickly established a reputation for herself for being the master party host. During her travels with Bob to many places around the world, Polly developed a unique eye and taste for fine collectibles, antiques, furniture and accessories that adorned her home through her accomplished talent for interior decorating wherever she and Bob lived. A unique opportunity for a major management position for Bob arose in 1974 and the decision was made to relocate from Atlanta to east Tennessee in Rogersville, where their presence immediately drew scores of friends. Polly used her fascination for the history of Tennessee’s second oldest town to make a positive impact on the small community, not the least of which was helping organize and form (with other avid citizens) the Rogersville Heritage Association that hosts a local celebration every fall that exists to this day called Heritage Days. She was also instrumental in urging for the city’s construction of a public swimming pool and tennis courts that also spawned a thriving interest in teaching people how to swim. This ultimately led to the establishment of a successful program known as “Flying Fish.” And she accomplished all this while simultaneously renovating a hundred-year-old farmhouse! Polly had a magnetic personality that instantly drew people from all walks of life. She actively sought opportunities to have a positive impact on friends, neighborhoods and communities. She was a devoted wife to Bob for more than fifty years. Polly was preceded in death by her parents, her two sisters; Rosemary Haselton and Laura Spong, her husband Bob, and is survived by her children, her grandchildren; Alma Lee McLeod Strand (Craig) Joseph G.S. McLeod and Mary-Bryan McLeod (Davonice); Margaret Hale Vincent (Jonathan), Robert McLeod Hale and Thomas Winfield Hale; Jennie Rembert Dean, Helen Dean Fleming (Jed) and Laura McLeod Dean, and great-grandchildren Aiden Strand, Addison Strand and Lucy Fleming. A celebration of life is planned for a graveside service at 1 PM Saturday May 31, in the Sumter Cemetery. Online condolences may be sent to www.sumterfunerals.com Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home & Crematory, 221 Broad Street, Sumter, is in charge of the arrangements (803) 775-9386.