Notes:
Eugene Brooks Quigley Sr., 82, died Monday, June 8, 2009, in c., where he had lived since 2003.
Survivors include his daughter, Linda Quigley, and son, Brooks Quigley, both of Nashville; sisters-in-law, Ora Lee Quigley and Pearl Holland; and brothers-in-law, Fielder Moomaw and Gerald Murphy, all of Florence; and nieces and nephews.
He was married for 53 years to Lois Moomaw Quigley, who died in 2001.
Gene was born in the Oakland community in Lauderdale County on Feb. 26, 1927. He was the youngest and the last survivor of six children of John and Lena Harbin Quigley.
Preceding him in death were his brothers, John, Harold and Clarence Quigley, and sisters, Mary Elizabeth Hardin and Louise Ellis.
In World War II, he served with the U.S. Navy in the Pacific Theater, leaving his Central High School class at the age of 17 and following so many of his generation to serve his country. After his discharge, he earned his high school diploma and used the GI bill to attend John Gupton College of Mortuary Science in Nashville, where he graduated in 1948. He worked at funeral homes in Florence and in Lexington, Tenn., before becoming an electrician, carpenter and welder. He worked in construction for more than 30 years and retired from TVA in the early 1990s. Then, having maintained his licenses as an embalmer and funeral director in three states, he returned to the funeral industry, which he always felt was his calling. He was most recently employed at Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home in Nashville, where he worked until March 2009.
He was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 558, American Legion Post 11 and a number of professional organizations in the funeral industry. As a child, he became a member of Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church and that remained his church home and family throughout his life.
The funeral service will be at 2 p.m. today at Greenview Funeral Home, with burial in Greenview Memorial Park.
Pallbearers will be Johnny Quigley, Edd Quigley, Rick Ellis, Billy Elkins, Tim Fordham and Jimmy Thompson.
Honorary pallbearers will be members of Alcoholics Anonymous, with whom he experienced the gifts of sobriety for more than 23 years.
For those who wish to honor Gene's memory, we suggest you consider a contribution to a charity or church of your choice, or simply do something kind and loving for someone in need, which he did countless times in his life.
Published in Florence Times Daily from June 9 to June 11, 2009
Bio by: William Anthony Watkins