Virginia Plummer

Funeral services for Virginia Wyatt Plummer, 93, of Cookeville, will be held at 1:00 P.M. on Monday, February 16 at Cookeville First United Methodist Church. Interment will follow in Crest Lawn Memorial Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 5-7 P.M. on Sunday, February 15 at Hooper, Huddleston & Horner Funeral Home and from 12 P.M. until time of service on Monday at the church. Mrs. Plummer died Friday afternoon, February 13, 2015, at Life Care Center of Sparta, TN. She was born July 6, 1921, in Chestnut Mound, Smith County, Tennessee to the late Eddie Compton Wyatt and Vera Lee (King) Wyatt. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, C. Bruce Plummer and three brothers, Fred King Wyatt of Carthage, TN, Will Lee (Bud) Wyatt of Crossville, TN, and Jerald Wyatt of Huntsville, AL. Her family includes a step-son, Bruce Plummer and his wife, Margaret, of Murfreesboro, their two daughters and families: Jenny & Chris Copeland and their daughters Sydney and Callie; Julie & Kevin Lewis and their sons Keegan and Bryce, all of Murfreesboro; three nephews, Fred Wyatt and wife Kay of Brentwood, TN; Steve Wyatt and wife Nancy of Anaheim, CA; James Wyatt and wife Judy of Lebanon, TN; and four nieces, Sharon Wyatt of Crossville, TN; Nancy Wyatt Hunt of Nashville, TN; Pryntha Wyatt Akin of Huntsville, AL and Deborah Wyatt Callins and husband Tim of Huntsville, AL. She is also survived by eleven great-nieces and nephews and a host of great-great nieces & nephews and faithful friends. Mrs. Virginia Plummer, a 1943 TTU business management graduate, played an important role in the history of the College of Business, TTU and the Cookeville community. As a student, she was an assistant to former professors Herman Pinkerton and C.V. Bruner, and to former university President Everett Derryberry. After teaching business courses at Smith County High School in Carthage for two years, she returned to TTU as secretary to the president and part-time instructor. In 1950 she received a Fellowship at the University of Tennessee and received her master's degree. She then returned to TTU as a full-time instructor. Mrs. Plummer retired in June 1982 after teaching 39 years and 10 months, 37 of those years at TTU. She remained active in campus activities, serving on the College of Business Board of Trustees and Board of the Friends of the Library Foundation. In 1997, she and her husband Bruce endowed the Virginia and Bruce Plummer Scholarship for business students. In 2000, the university awarded Virginia the Alumni Association's Outstanding Service Award and in 2009 she received the TTU College of Business, Louis Johnson Alumnus Award. Her outstanding support of TTU has also been recognized by naming the "Virginia W. Plummer" reception room in her honor. In addition to TTU, Mrs. Plummer served the community in many ways. She served as president of Tennessee and Putnam County Retired Teachers Association and Cookeville Evening Lions Club. For her outstanding service to Lionism, she received numerous recognitions at the club, district and state levels. Also, her outstanding ability to quote poetry and poems were a blessing to her many friends. Her fundraising endeavors are legendary in the Cookeville community. Whether it was nuts for the Cookeville Evening Lions Club, tickets for the Friends of the Library Gala, funds for the Red Cross, or subscriptions to the Herald-Citizen newspaper, she always strived to do her very best. Honorary pallbearers will be Jim Hicks, Tiff Rector, Mark Hutchins, Roger Johnson, Willard Cummings, Sonny Allen, Dr. Marvin Barker, TTU College of Business Board of Trustees, TTU Friends of the Library, and TTU Faculty Emeritus. Active pallbearers will be Fred, Steve, and James Wyatt, and friends. Dr. Martin Thielen will officiate. Hooper-Huddleston & Horner Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements (931) 526-6111. You may share your thoughts and memories at www.hhhfunerals.com.