Bill Shreckengost

William Boyd (Bill) Shreckengost, longtime resident of Cookeville, Tennessee, passed into eternal rest on October 2, 2016, after a brief illness. Born on January 30, 1929, in New Bethlehem, PA, to the late O.D. Shreckengost of South Bethlehem PA in Armstrong County, and the late Elzada Irene Catherine Geist, of Mudlic, Pennsylvania, Mr. Shreckengost grew up in the Redbank Valley area of Clarion and Armstrong counties, and attended New Bethlehem High School. Upon graduation from high school, he worked for his family’s mining business, running heavy equipment, until he was drafted into the army. After serving in the U. S. Army’s First Cavalry Division in Korea, from 1951-1953, he relocated to Ft. Pierce, Florida, where he met his future wife, Shirley Inez Taylor. They married in 1955, and moved to the far northwest where Mrs. Shreckengost’s cousin lived, fulfilling a dream to see what was then the Territory of Alaska, where their two children were born. He was employed by Standard Oil at the local shipping terminal. He owned an amphibian plane with two friends, which was a common form of transportation in southeastern Alaska, landing on lakes and fjords. In 1960, a year and a half after statehood was granted the family returned to St. Lucie County, Florida, where Mr. Shreckengost was a partner in the family citrus business, Bilot Groves, outside of Ft. Pierce. In 1971, the Shreckengosts moved to Cookeville, and soon after, entered the real estate business, opening their own firm, Heritage Real Estate. Bill had an interest in land development, and believed firmly in the growth potential of Cookeville as the largest town in the Upper Cumberland region. He developed the Post Oak Subdivision near Quinland Lake, and later he assembled land and brought the Jackson Plaza shopping center to Cookeville, transforming the local real estate market in the largest commercial development project of its kind in the city’s history. This development shifted the core of Cookeville’s retail shopping to the west side of town, when many said it could never be done. Mr. Shreckengost had a reputation for being honest and direct, and his vision for the possibilities of growth in the region served him well as a member of the Bangham Utility Water District for several decades.Mr. Shreckengost enjoyed spending time at Valley View, his beloved summer home in Tionesta, Pennsylvania, deep in the heart of the Allegheny National Forest, where he had indulged his love for the outdoors since his days as a Boy Scout. He was fascinated by the beauty found in nature, in its trees and wildlife, and had been an avid game hunter in the Northeast, as well as in Alaska. His last major trip was to his mother’s ancestral town of Ravensburg, Swabia (Germany) in December 2000, where he walked through its narrow streets of the medieval walled city, and worshiped at Christmas Eve Midnight Mass in Weingarten Kloster, the largest Baroque cathedral in Germany. Bill was an active member of the American Legion, and of the Gideons International, until his health declined earlier this year. Mr. Shreckengost was predeceased by his wife, the former Shirley Inez Taylor, a native of Colquitt, Georgia; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. O.D. Shreckengost, Sr., of Fort Pierce, Florida and Tionesta, Pennsylvania, and his brother, Mr. O.D. Shreckengost, Jr., of Ft. Pierce, FL. He is survived by his daughter, Ms. Cay Shreckengost of Cookeville, TN, and his son, Mr. James (Dimitri) Shreckengost, of Decatur, GA, sisters-in-law, Elizabeth S. Shreckengost and Patricia Taylor of Ft. Pierce, Florida, and Brenda Beaty Taylor of Monterey, TN; nephews, James Ashley Taylor (Debbie), Steven K. Taylor and Chad G. Taylor (Lacey Bergeron) of Ft. Pierce, Chip Shreckengost (Patti) of Springfield, PA, and Zachery Taylor of Cookeville, TN; as well as cousins from the Shumaker, Wolfe, Rugh, Manwaring and Schreckengost families in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Oregon, California and Utah. Visitation will be held from 5-7p.m., on Tuesday, October 4, at Dyer Funeral Home, 798 South Willow Avenue, Cookeville. Funeral Service will be held at 11 a.m., on Wednesday, October 5, at Paran Church, 3812 West Paran Road, Cookeville (Overton County) and interment will be at Paran Cemetery, with Fellowship Meal following graveside services. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Gideons International or to IOCC (International Orthodox Christian Charities) at www.iocc.org or by mail at IOCC, P.O. Box 630225, Baltimore,MD 21204 Pallbearers: James Ashley Taylor of Ft. Pierce, FL; Joe Wilmoth, Donald Davis, Peter Magura, and Burton Putman of Cookeville, and Philip Beck, of Knoxville. Dyer Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. (931)526-7158 You may share your thoughts and memories at www.dyerfh.com