Over the last 35 years, I have written a column entitled, “It’s A Wonderful Life.” Through the years, this column has appeared in several publications, but for the past 11 years, it has been the anchor of Crossville Life Magazine. I have written profile stories on colleagues, people I grew up with, people I admired, people who had served our country, people who had make a significant contribution to our community.
This issue’s column is again dedicated to people, many of them my friends. In general, it has been a sad couple of months in Crossville, Tennessee as we have lost some of our finest citizens, people whose life made a difference.
Graveside services were held for John Donnelly, age 79, who passed away June 20. John was a well-known pilot and businessman in Crossville for many years. An Army veteran, John’s passion was airplanes and flying, and he frequently piloted vintage aircraft in air shows at the Crossville Airport. The photo I am using of him here, was made at one of the Airport Fly-Ins, as he stood in front of a war plane. He was a partner in Boats and Harbors, located at 175 4th Street in Crossville. When you are the young pup on the block, it is unusual for a veteran businessman like John to embrace you and give you that confident pat on the back. John was a professional and was active in his community. He will be missed by people from every walk of life, including me.
Well-known Crossville CPA Edwin Lansford, Sr., passed away June 17 at the age of 94. I was honored to know Mr. Lansford and wrote a small story recently about his WWII recognition for his work to liberate France from oppression in the 1940’s. He was one of four men in Tennessee to receive medals from his military career as a Private First Class. He traveled to France for the ceremony. The award he received, known as the National Order of the Legion of Honor was founded by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802.
Longtime Crossville businessman Ed Bowman, Jr. passed away in June after being injured in an automobile accident. He operated Bowman’s RV on West Avenue in Crossville for many years where he sold and serviced Recreational Vehicles and Campers and was known for “going the extra mile” to take care of his customers. Ed was 72.
In early July, we said goodbye to a former Cumberland County athlete and coach, Dana Winningham, who passed away at the age of 62. A member of the Tennessee Tech Sports Hall of Fame, Dana played football for Tech 1970-1973 and was a member of coach Don Wade’s 1972 OVC Championship team. He was selected the winner of the prestigious Robert Hill Johnson Award and as a senior led the team in tackles and interceptions from his linebacker position. He was known by his nickname, “Cornbread.” He worked as an administrator at Tennessee Tech, Principal at Homestead Elementary, and was a coach at Cumberland County High School.
Another of my close friends, Grover Terry, died in July. He was 89. I got to know him and his wife Nell when they first retired to Crossville several years ago. He was a native of Chatsworth, Georgia (which is where my brother Bill lives today). In some small way, the fact that I was familiar with his hometown, made us closer. Grover was a U.S. Navy Veteran, and retired from the automotive industry as a welder. What is it that causes us to like anyone? For Grover, it was his personality, his way of being friendly. Grover was a classy guy and I loved him dearly. I remember fondly a trip we took on a houseboat on Dale Hollow. He and Nell went on a that trip with us along with some of our other friends. He died after a long illness and he will be greatly missed.
One of Crossville’s best known businessman, Grady Taylor, died July 12. Many businessmen depended on Grady’s advice as a CPA. He was also known for his development of commercial property and other businesses in Crossville over a period of 40 years. A native of Smithville, Taylor earned degrees in finance, economics and accounting. He was also active in politics early in his career, serving as Crossville’s first city manager. He raised cattle and was an avid outdoorsman, hunting with friends on trips to South Dakota, etc. People who serve as CPAs for clients often become their best friend, the same could be said for Grady. The list of men who served as his pallbearers and honorary pallbearers read like a who’s who list of successful businessmen in Crossville. Not many people were better known or better liked than Grady.
Known by people in his business circle as the Sales Manager for TAP Publishing’s Rock & Dirt, Travis Clark died July 14 at the age of 48. But Travis was known in a wider circle for his work at his church and his love for coaching young people. I am proud to have called Travis a friend. We shared a love for sports and were never at a loss for words whenever we were together. A great family man, he had a way of making everyone feel like family. I only knew him for about 15 years, but it seemed like we had known each other all our lives. I can honestly say he was one of the greatest guys I ever knew. I don’t think I ever saw him anywhere except at church. He was a Christian husband, father and friend, and his absence will leave a void in the lives of many, many people.
Time to hand out Kudos
I want to congratulate the Senior Men’s 60+ Softball team from Crossville who just returned from the National Senior Olympics in Minneapolis, MN, where they won the National Title, bring home the National Trophy to Cumberland County. After winning the Gold Medal at the Tennessee Senior Olympics in Franklin, TN, they advanced the Nationals for the third time since 2011. Congratulations to Player/Manager tim Hewitt and all of the players. The team was very experienced, with five players who had competed in a National before.
Congratulations to Frank Bohannon on the 35th anniversary of his return to Crossville to take over the day-to-day management of Bilbrey Funeral Home. Bohannon returned to Crossville from a career in the U.S. Air Force in 1980. This year marks 35 years in the business, which was founded in 1914, making it 101 years old. Frank’s father, Lewis Bohannon operated the business from 1938 to 1980.
Congratulations to Misty Honeycutt who has been named Sales Person of the Month for the third consecutive month at East Tennessee Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge. I recently purchased a Dodge Ram pick-up truck and Misty took care of me, getting me a truck to drive while my other car was in service, calling me when she had something for me to come look at. She basically found me the perfect truck, the one I was looking for. She impressed me far before I ever decided to buy a new vehicle. I heard that General Mgr. Brandon Letner was going to rename the Sales Person of the Month award to the Misty Honeycutt Award. If you are impressed by service, energy and professional behavior, go see Misty. Its a whole new way to buy a car!
Congratulations to new Marketing Vice President Brooke Shaffer of Upper Cumberland Federal Credit Union. Brooke came to Crossville from White Rose Credit Union in York, PA where she carried the same title, Marketing VP. A native of Cumberland County, Brooke grew up in the Crab Orchard community, but moved away after graduating the University of Tennessee @ Chattanooga. She has been in the employment of White Rose since 2006. Before that she worked at Kroger Pharmacy, and FedEx Ground in Chattanooga. She is the daughter of Terry and Joan Thompson and says she is happy to be back home. UCFCU President/C.E.O. Denise Cooper said, “We are fortunate to have found a marketing professional with so many years of credit union experience to enhance our management team.”
