Glenda Mayfield departed this life on May 7, 2026, in the company of family, friends, and birds at the window sill. After a terminal diagnosis, her will to live amazed her many nurse friends and her whole medical team.
Glenda was born on February 20, 1947 in Knoxville, the daughter of Betty and John Charles Smith who raised her next door to Larry Mayfield, who would be her future husband. Glenda and Larry had many adventures thanks to his joining the military after their college graduations. The young couple found themselves settled in North Pole, Alaska, with their two daughters, where Glenda was a registered nurse and a devoted Girl Scout leader. She taught her girls to weather 50 below conditions, chop wood, love the wilderness, put out moose salt licks, and appreciate the indigenous culture.
After Larry’s untimely death in a military plane crash, Glenda found her way back home to Knoxville and then met the second love of her life, Wayne Speller. They would spend 44 loving years together. During those years they enjoyed beach trips, teaching their children and grandchildren to waterski, hosting holidays, and discovering that teenagers are exasperating.
Glenda became a psychiatric nurse later in her career, helping those in the throes of addiction and never shied away from the least of us. She always had a Kroger gift card on her for the hungry. She ran a weekly group for schizophrenia patients and loved on them as only Glenda could. Glenda’s own family was touched by addiction and she was a warrior in that fight. She never stopped loving, no matter the circumstances.
As hard as she worked, she still made time to volunteer in South Dakota as a nurse with the Lakota Tribe. Glenda exemplified “My faith demands that I do whatever I can.” Through it all, Glenda found the perfect outlet for her boundless creativity in crafting, painting and sewing.
When an ocean wave struck Wayne in 2022 he became a quadriplegic and Glenda cared for him at home for 15 months before his passing.
Glenda is preceded in death by Wayne Speller, Larry Mayfield and Susie Hargrove. She is survived by many family members that love and miss her: Faiye Mayfield, Stephanie, Scott and Shelby Wright, Larry Hargrove, Brianna and Luna Mayo, Lisa, Karl, Lukas and Madelyn Treosti, Tim, Gabby, Nicole and Natalia Speller, Mandy and James Rickett, Christian and Logan Hopwood, Joshua Craft and eight great grandchildren.
We are eternally grateful to Glenda’s four lifelong nurse friends and nurse family members who took excellent care of her as she battled cancer to the end: Mandy Rickett, Lisa Treosti, Susan Long, and her best friend of 68 years, Windy Lee Baker.
Glenda had definite ideas about her burial: no fuss, no flowers, no waste. A small private graveside service will be held at Oakridge Memorial Park Cemetery on May 16th at 10:00 am for family and close friends with a Brunch to follow. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to a program close to Glenda’s heart: Beardan High School NJROTC Boosters, Inc., Attn: Col. Harrell, 8352 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919.