C M Hales

Mr. C. M. "Cam" Hales, 86, long-time Maury County resident, died Thursday, June 12, 2008 at Nashville Alive Hospice. Funeral services will be conducted Monday at 1:00 p.m. at St. Peter's Episcopal Church with The Rev. Jess Reeves and The Rev. Tom Wilson officiating. Burial will be in St. John's Episcopal Churchyard at Ashwood. The family will visit with friends Sunday from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Oakes & Nichols. Memorials may be made to The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, (NAMI), P. O. Box 759155, Baltimore, Maryland 21275-9155, or Alive Hospice of Nashville, 1718 Patterson Street, Nashville 37203. Notes of sympathy may be sent to www.oakesandnichols.com. Born near Boaz, Alabama, he was the youngest of the five children of the late Cam and Margaret Smith Hales. He was a graduate of Boaz High School and Snead Junior College in Boaz. During World War II, he served in the U. S. Army Air Corps as a C-47 pilot in the European Theatre of Operation. On October 5, 1944, he married the former Virginia Ann Weaver in San Antonio, Texas. After being discharged from the military, he attended the Colorado School of Mines. After his graduation in 1948, the couple moved to Pierce, Florida. In 1952, they moved to Columbia, where he worked for Monsanto Company. After nearly 35 years, he retired in October 1986, his last assignment as head of the Mining Department. Mr. Hales was also active in civic and community affairs for a number of years including memberhip in the Columbia Kiwanis Club. His father died when he was about twelve years old, and Cam helped his mother run the family farm during the Depression. Throughout his life, he demonstrated how he was always willing to pull his share of the load. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather, and friend, will be greatly missed. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Virginia, August 21, 1988; a brother, Frank Hales, and sisters, Gladys Downes, Lydia Collier, and Mildred Miller. Survivors include three children and their spouses, Linda and Thomas Hales of Clarksville, Ann Hales and Buchanan Johnson of Ithaca, New York, and Randy Hales of Ponca City, Oklahoma; four grandchildren, Wes Hales, Kelsey Hales, Michael Johnson-Hales, and Alice Johnson-Hales. He is also survived by numerous loved nieces, nephews, and cousins and many cherished friends, particularly Miss Georgia Frierson, Mrs. Beverly Stanford, Dr. B. I. Naddy, and Mrs. Emmalyn Carden. Pallbearers will be relatives and friends of the family.