Ron Hensley

COOKEVILLE - USAF Captain James Ron Hensley passed away on Thursday, May 25th in his hometown of Cookeville, Tennessee. He was born in Orange County, California on January 20th, 1940. He graduated from Cookeville High School in 1958 and Tennessee Polytechnical Institute, now called Tennessee Tech University, in 1962.

He was married to Georgia Brown Hensley, the love of his life, for 60 years in June. They met as teenagers in the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Cookeville and dated 5 years before they were married. He also served as an elder in the church for many decades. He went into OTS, officer training school, and proudly worked his way up to serve as Captain in the United States Air Force from 1962 until 1972. He served in Vietnam and was stationed with his wife, Georgia, on a base in Okinawa for 1 year. Ron and Georgia traveled extensively while in the Air Force and called many places home before returning to Cookeville to settle down and raise a family. Ron worked for the state of Tennessee in the Department of Revenue where he retired in 2009 after 34 years. He was a cancer survivor, an advocate for several charities, and simply loved to buy other people’s dinner. His passions were classic cars but his prized possession is his 1960 Pontiac Catalina convertible that he showed often and won many car show awards. He was an avid reader who enjoyed the wild, western adventures of Louis L’Amour and mysteries of Agatha Christie.

He was the father of Greg Hensley and Gary Hensley and the proud grandfather of Garrison Hensley, Liberty Hensley, and Loveleya Hensley.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Claude Hensley and Grace Hensley of Cookeville and his brother, Harold Hensley of Sparta.

Pallbearers will be Garrison Hensley, Frank Hensley, Kim Hensley Thedford, Wil Hensley, Danny Sutherland, Richard Brown, Bo Woods and Jamie Emerton. Honorary pallbearers will be Mr. & Mrs. Waylon Hawkins, Mr. & Mrs. Hill Carlen, Mr. & Mrs. Jack Mattson, Mr. & Mrs. Walter Keith Crawford, Pat Wilmoth, Kevin Wilmoth, Diana Sutherland, Devon Sutherland, Darren Sutherland and Mr. & Mrs. Bill Greer.

Services will be held on Saturday, June 3rd, at the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Cookeville starting with visitation at 1:00 and service starting at 3:00 with interment following at Crestlawn cemetery.

The officiants will be Dr Charles McCaskey, Rev. Larry Wilmoth, and Rev. Jonathan Angel. Monetary gifts in lieu of flowers can be sent to the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Cookeville.

P.S. Mom loves you; Dad, we all love you. Please give Skipper a hug for us.

Hooper-Huddleston & Horner Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. (931)526-6111. Share memories and condolences at www.hhhfunerals.com.