Billy Clark McKinney

• Posted on: 09, 06, 2023
• By : David Brooks 
• Categories : Past Obituaries 
• Comments : 8

Funeral service for Mr. Billy Clark McKinney will be 1:00 P.M. Saturday, September 9, 2023, at Sanderson Funeral Home in Carthage with Bro. Dickie Johnson, Bro. Jimmy Gibbs and Eld. James T. Gibbs officiating.  Interment Smith County Memorial Gardens.  Visitation Friday 4-7 PM and Saturday from 11 AM until service at Sanderson Funeral Home in Carthage.

Mr. McKinney, age 76 of the Elmwood Community passed away Tuesday, September 5, 2023, at St. Thomas West Hospital in Nashville.

Born July 10, 1947, in the old McFarland Hospital in Lebanon, he was the only child of the late Walter James “Jim” and Pauline Vaden McKinney.  He was saved in 1960 during a revival meeting at Caney Fork Missionary Baptist Church.  He was baptized in the waters of Peyton’s Creek into the fellowship of New Salem Missionary Baptist Church by the late Eld. Kenneth Gibbs.  He overcame polio as a child and a very serious car accident in 1969.  He made the Nashville papers at five years old while a polio patient at Vanderbilt he was presented a king size all day sucker by then Isaac Litton High School Tackle John Gordy.  He often laughed at the photo of him in only his underwear and leg brace.

He attended Carthage Elementary School and was a 1966 graduate of Smith County High School.  An outdoorsman, when he was a young man, he enjoyed hunting and fishing and became an avid golfer.  He enjoyed politics and the occasional argument with his friends.  He enjoyed catching up on all the latest news at the Hardees Roundtable.  He was a member of the Smith County Board of Education representing District 8 during the 1980’s.  He worked for the Tennessee Department of Transportation for over 31 years before retiring.  He then went to work with his lifelong friend Steve Armistead, Wilson County Road Superintendent.  His job with the Wilson County Road Commission would last for nineteen years before his final retirement due to multiple back surgeries.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his grandparents, Walter and Alma Clark McKinney and Merideth T. and Virginia Dickens Vaden; father and mother in law, Hilary and Edna Massey Hesson; and sisters in law, Nancy (Frank) Fowler and Paulette (Mack) Metcalf.

He is survived by his wife of over fifty three years, Judy Hesson McKinney; and son, Walter Clark McKinney; several cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Pallbearers: Roy Vaden, Randy, Ricky & Gary Woodard, Danny Manning, Steve Murphy, Phil & Pat Massey, Tony Dickens, and Dale Owens

Memorials may be made to New Salem Missionary Baptist Church or to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

LIGON & BOBO FUNERAL HOME of Lebanon (615) 444-2142   www.ligonbobo.com