James T Yeager

View Funeral Webcast James Thomas Yeager, 74, retired from Yeager Automotive and resident of Sowell Hollow Road, died Monday, June 4, 2012 at Maury Regional Medical Center. Funeral services will be conducted Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. at Oakes & Nichols with Rev. David Simmerman and Rev. Charles Blythe officiating. Burial will follow in Polk Memorial Gardens with military honors at graveside provided by the Tennessee National Guard Honors Unit. The family suggests memorials to Gideons International, 50 Century Boulevard Nashville, TN 37214. Notes of sympathy may be sent to www.oakesandnichols.com. The Maury County native was the son of the late Otis Eugene Yeager and Jennie Mae Weaver Yeager and a 1956 graduate of Columbia Central High School. He served in the Tennessee Army National Guard for eight years as a Staff Sergeant assigned to the motor pool. He began his career working in the automotive business at Chilton Auto Parts and later joined his brother, Clyde Yeager at Yeager Automotive. After working at Monsanto Company for twenty-one years, he worked with Stanley Tool Company in Shelbyville prior to purchasing and operating Yeager Automotive. In addition to a life-long interest in automobiles, he was a knife maker and enjoyed cattle farming and gardening. He was a long-time member of First Family Baptist Church. Survivors include his wife, Peggy Ann Pickle Yeager, whom he married July 20, 1956; children, James Michael (Janice) Yeager of Blountville and Rebecca (Keith) Steverson of Lake Wales, Florida; grandchildren, Jennifer Michelle (Benjamin) Hubble of Kingsport, James Matthew (Julia Pugh) Yeager of Knoxille, Jacob Michael Yeager, serving in the U. S. Marine Corps, of Kingsport, and Adam James Steverson of Lake Wales, Florida; great-grandchildren, Asher James Hubble, Karris Anne Hubble, Bennett Matthew Yeager, and Abigail Joy Yeager; several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by brothers, Clyde Yeager and A. D. Yeager. Active pallbearers are Benjamin Hubble, Matthew Yeager, Jacob Yeager, Royce Russell, Kimble Maynard, Larry Yeager, Bobby Yeager, and Monty Gilliam. Honorary pallbearers include Kimble Maynard's Small Group Sunday School Class, Dr. C. Houston Jameson, III, Dr. Steven Woodley, Dr. Mark Messenger, and Dr. Doug Kennedy.