Frank Britnell

BRITNELL, Frank William Franklin Britnell was born November 9, 1923, to Aussie Franklin Britnell and Eugenia Gray Britnell in Huntsville, AL. After graduating from Huntsville High School in 1942, he went to work at the Huntsville Arsenal, (now Redstone Arsenal), manufacturing chlorine gas for use in World War II. He attended Alabama Polytechnic Institute, (Auburn University) as an Electrical Engineering co-op student. Upon his graduation in 1948 he worked for the TVA as a test engineer. In July of 1956 he transferred to the Nashville District US Army Corps of Engineers to set up the Test Section for Hydro Power Plants in the Nashville District with his headquarters at Center Hill Dam. In 1956, he moved with his family to Cookeville, and became active in the community and First Methodist Church. He was promoted to Chief, Hydro Power Section in the Nashville District in 1967, where he supervised the work of seven hydro-electric power generating dams on the Cumberland River and its tributaries. That year, to be nearer his office in Nashville, he moved with his family to Lebanon, TN. In 1975, he was selected as the Chief, Hydro Power Branch for all US Army Corps of Engineers Multipurpose Hydroelectric Power Projects in the United States, and he and Jo moved to Falls Church, VA, for his new position in Washington, DC. After a 37-year career with various Federal Agencies, he retired and returned to Cookeville with Jo. He often told people, "I never had a job I didn"�t like, but I liked living in Cookeville more than any other place."� Frank was a civic-minded person. He was a member of Jaycees, Lions Club, Rotary International, and Cookeville City Council. He helped create the Cookeville Putnam County Clean Commission and the Cookeville Chapter of National Association of Retired Federal Employees. He was Cub Pack Master for Pack 156, Assistant Scoutmaster for Troop 108, Scoutmaster of Troop 434, President of the Putnam County High School Band Boosters Club, Chairman of the Local American Red Cross Unit and President of Toastmasters. After 12 years of battling Alzheimer"�s, he died peacefully on January 26, 2013, at Heritage Pointe Senior Living Center in Cookeville where he had lived since June 2007. He is preceded in death by his sister, Mary Britnell Goodwin. He is survived by Joan Neely Britnell, his wife of 63 years; a daughter, Beverly Britnell (Ralph) Tesseneer of Spartanburg, SC; a son, Richard (Angela) Britnell of Franklin; five grandchildren, John Tesseneer of Spartanburg, SC, Neely Tesseneer (Bradley) Benton of Moorhead, MN, Stephen Britnell of Murfreesboro, David Britnell and Mark Britnell, both of Knoxville; and two great-grandsons, Thomas Athen Benton and John William Benton, both of Moorhead, MN. Frank donated his body to the University of Tennessee Science and Research Center in Memphis to help find a cure for Alzheimer"�s. A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, February 2, 2013 at 11 a.m. at First United Methodist Church in Cookeville with Rev. Max Mayo and Rev. Drew Shelly officiating. Lunch and visitation will follow in the Fellowship Hall. The family requests in lieu of flowers that contributions be made to the Building Fund for First United Methodist Church 165 East Broad Street Cookeville, TN 38501 or to Alzheimer"�s Tennessee, Inc., The Cumberlands Office, 1459 Interstate Drive Ste 211, Cookeville, TN 38501.