Ernest Carroll Beard

View Funeral Webcast Ernest Carroll Beard, 69, co-owner of Columbia Catering, farmer, and resident of Still Pond Road, died Tuesday, November 24, 2015. Funeral services will be conducted Saturday at 2:00 P.M. at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home with Rev. Telford Tharp officiating. Burial will follow in Polk Memorial Gardens. The family will visit with friends Friday from 4:00 - 8:00 P.M. at the funeral home. Condolences may be extended online at www.oakesandnichols.com. The Maury County native was the son of Dorothy Shouse Beard of Columbia and the late Ernest M. "Doc" Beard. He was a 1964 graduate of Culleoka High School. He was employed several years with Conalco in Columbia. He was a loving husband, a proud father and grandfather. His love of fishing was infectious and he shared it with all he loved. He enjoyed the great outdoors working with his cattle and chickens, and was affectionately known by family and friends as "Chicken Man". A car enthusiast, he proudly restored a 1968 Chevelle and enjoyed sharing it with others at classic car shows. In addition to his mother, he is survived by his wife of forty-seven years, Joyce Love Beard of Columbia; daughter, Tracy (Steve) Ellis of Columbia; sister, Wanda (Jackie) Rowland of Mt. Pleasant; brother, David (June) Beard of Columbia; grandchildren, Tanner Ellis, Taylor Ellis, and Tatum Ellis; and nieces, Toni Malcolm, Leah Bigger, and Lori Stinnett. Active pallbearers will be Tanner Ellis, Taylor Ellis, Luke McCoy, Doug Johnson, Randy Fitzgerald, and Cody Bolton. Honorary pallbearers include special friends of Doug's Place and The Feed, and Car Cruzin' Buddies.