John Wilburn Bland

John W. Bland Mr. John Wilburn Bland, 88, retired employee of Union Carbide and resident of Greenwood Acres Drive, died Thursday at Maury Regional Hospital. Funeral services will be conducted at 3 p.m. Sunday at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home with Rev. Elmer Crosby officiating. Burial will be in Polk Memorial Gardens. The family will visit with friends Saturday from 4 - 8p.m. at the funeral home. Notes of sympathy may be sent to the family at www.oakesandnichols.com. The Limestone County, Alabama native was the son of the late Grover Bland and Sara Ann Hall Bland. He was a member of Mooresville Pike Baptist Church. Survivors include his wife of sixty-nine years, Irene Davis Bland of Columbia; two sons, Bill (Linda) Bland of Dyersburg, Bruce Wayne (Sherri) Bland of Gallatin; one brother, Vernon Bland of Hazel Green, Alabama; daughter-in-law, Linda Bailey Bland of Spring Hill; ten grandchildren; eighteen great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by one son, Rev. J.W. "Jim" Bland, two sisters, Odell Mullins, Velma James and four brothers, Lindsey Bland, Buford Bland, Bob Bland and Roy Bland. Grandsons will serve as pallbearers.