John Wilkerson Cecil III

Local grocer and farmer of the Cross Bridges Community, John W. "Jack" Cecil, III, 82, died Wednesday, September 27, 2006, at Maury Regional Hospital. Funeral services will be conducted at 2:00 P.M. Saturday at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home with Rev. Rock Jaggers officiating. Burial will be in Cross Bridges Methodist Cemetery with military honors provided by Herbert Griffin American Legion Post 19. The family will visit with friends Friday from 4:00 - 8:00 P.M. at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to Hampshire United Methodist Church, P. O. Box 171, Hampshire, TN 38461, Cross Bridges Methodist Church, c/o Kenny Cecil, 3097 Hampshire Pike, Mt. Pleasant, TN 38474, Cross Bridges Cemetery Fund, c/o Susan Travis, 3041 Hampshire Pike, Mt. Pleasant, TN 38474, Hampshire School, 4235 Old State Road, Hampshire, TN 38461 or Whitthorne Middle School, 915 Lion Parkway, Columbia, TN 38401. Notes of sympathy may be sent to the family at www.oakesandnichols.com. Born on November 5, 1923, on the Cecil Family Farm in Cross Bridges, he was the son of the late John Wilkerson Cecil, II, and Lula Clementine Lovell Cecil. He was a loving and faithful husband for fifty-three years until the death of his wife Florence Edith Duke Cecil on August 10, 2001. He was a 1942 graduate of Columbia Central High School and served in the U. S. Army during World War II. He was owner and operator of Cecil's Store for fifty-nine years and farmed the family farm until his death. He was a member of Cross Bridges Methodist Church and Hampshire United Methodist Church. Survivors include one daughter, Susan Elizabeth (Gordon) Travis of Cross Bridges; two sons, Bobby Duke (Nora) Cecil of Columbia; Kenneth Lovell (Jody) Cecil of Cross Bridges; one sister, Mrs. Dorothy Cecil Rainey of Columbia; one brother-in-law, Farris Duke; seven grandchildren, Connie Cecil (Kent) Simmons, Brad (Chandra) Cecil, Danielle Cecil, Kelly Cecil (Jon) Thomas, Justin Cecil, Leslie Travis (Steve) Collins, Lee Travis; four great grandchildren, Mackenzie Simmons, Blake Simmons, Isabella Cecil, Brooke Thomas; special caregiver and family friend, Shirley Vester; nieces, Linda Rainey Bell, Mary Beth Duke, Laurie Gulan; and nephews, Will Rainey, Ralph Duke, Jr., and Allen Duke. He was preceded in death by one brother, William Scott Cecil; and two brothers-in-law, William Rainey and Ralph Duke, Sr. Pallbearers will be Will Rainey, Ralph Duke, Jr., Allen Duke, John Phipps, Sherman Massey, Billy Dan Morrow, Wayne Morrow, Tom Tarkington, Allen Osborne, Bill Robinette, Clifford Jones, Johnny Jaggers, and W. M. Jaggers. Honorary pallbearers will be patrons of Cecil's Store, members of Hampshire United Methodist Church, members of Mt. Nebo United Methodist Church, Wanda Tracy, Mary Jane McNabb, William Dunneback, and George Farris. Special thanks to the staff and nurses of the CCU at Maury Regional Hospital and Doctors Quinn, Richardson, Naddy and their staffs.