Eugene Thacker

Eugene Thacker was born in Shiloh, Tennessee on May 12, 1933 to the late Edna Ruth Sowell and Samuel James Thacker. Eugene was the second of four boys and one of eleven children. He attended school at Shiloh. He spent his early years working alongside his brothers and sisters on the farms around his home in Shiloh. He joined the Army before he turned eighteen and spent time in South Korea. After the first tour of duty ended, Eugene came back to his home at Shiloh and helped his mother around the farm. Over the course of his life, he worked as a laborer for B and B Construction, a factory worker at Garan and Tyrone, and drove a truck for U.S.A. Classic until he retired.

In 1967, Eugene married Ruby Childs of Corinth, MS. The two enjoyed an adventurous and loving life together until her death after an extended illness in 1979. He later married again in 1981 to Ruby Faye Davis of Finger, TN. For the next 34 years the two were in separable. They spent hours traveling around the local countryside collecting anything that caught their fancy including antique dolls and glass ware. He spent the last 10 years of Ruby's life being her full time caregiver until her death in 2016.

Eugene loved his family and especially the multitude of nieces and nephews he was blessed with. He often said he would have had a houseful of kids if he and his wife could have. Although he would say, that if he and Ruby had a a child they would have prayed for it to be just like Jamie Walton, Ruby's long term best friend and caregiver. He frequently reminded others how lucky they were to be surrounded by kids.

Eugene always had a smile on his face and story to tell. He was constantly amazed by the changes he had witnessed in the world such as the cell phone that could send a picture in a second to another person, TVs that required internet and cable instead of an antennae, and cars that you could set the speed on. He never said a bad word about any situation or person. He was a living example of a Christian man. He loved his church, Childer's Hill Pentecostal Church and his church family became his family. He would often talk about Brother Pat, Brother Rex, and Sister Sandi and others in the church who always welcomed him into their lives with open arms.

Eugene is survived by one sister, Bonitta Brown and husband, Albert of Selmer, TN; a multitude of nieces and nephews locally and scattered throughout the U.S. including Angelia Thacker Nowlin (Tim) of Pickwick, TN, Anita Thacker Mosier of Counce, TN, Joy Thacker McAfee (Tony) of Michie, TN, Mary Thacker Winters of Portland, TN, Joyce Thacker Richardson (Steve) of Houston, TX, Sandra Thacker Barefoot (Donnie) of Lexington, SC, Michael Strawn (Debra) of Memphis, TN, Bernice Thacker of Memphis, TN.

He was preceded in death by his wives, Ruby Childs Thacker and Ruby Davis Thacker; his sisters, Ethel Thacker Lineberry, Viola Thacker White, Graple Thacker Strawn, Pauline Thacker, Samuel Thacker, Jr., Barbara Thacker Saloney, Jesse Wilson Thacker, Willie David Thacker and Frances Juanita Thacker.