ALEXANDER CEMETERY,  MAURY COUNTY TENNESSEE

Sparkman Lots


SPARKMAN, Richard H., Sr. 27 Jul 1916 - 16 Feb 1997. S. Sgt US Army WWII
SPARKMAN, Christine O., 27 Aug 1915 - no date.

Funeral for Richard Hanes Sparkman Sr. of Beech Grove Road, Columbia, was at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Williamson Memorial Funeral Home, with Myron Keith and Bill Miller officiating. Burial was in Alexander Cemetery in Spring Hill. Mr. Sparkman died Sunday at the age of 80 in Hillview Nursing Home in Columbia. He was the owner of Sparkman Jewelers at 324 Main St. and had owned the store for 32 years. His son, Hanes, has been running the store for the past five years, though Sparkman would lend his expertise and visit with customers until he was placed in the nursing home six months ago. He formerly operated a successful dry cleaning business, now Fashion Cleaners, in Franklin. To start in the jewelry business, he bought two stores in Franklin, the former Franklin Jewelers and the former Blackburn Jewelers, and combined them. Sparkman, who until 25 years ago lived on Franklin's Buckworth Avenue, bought the place where he was born and raised from his brother, Tom. He moved back to Beech Grove Road. Once he was back at his home, he won a "couple of bushels of ribbons" on various Tennessee Walking Horses. He would enter all the Tennessee shows including the National Celebration at Shelbyville plus shows in Orlando, Fla., Baton Rouge, La., Montgomery, Ala., Jackson, Miss., and Little Rock, Ark. More than 25 years ago, when open heart surgery was new, he was the 15th person to undergo the operation at St. Thomas Hospital. Born in Maury County, he was a veteran in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was a former city alderman and longtime member of the Franklin Rotary Club. He was a member of the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders and Exhibition Assn., Tennessee Retail Jewelry Assn. and a member of the Fourth Avenue Church of Christ. Survivors include his wife, Mrs. Christine O'Bryan Sparkman of Columbia; son, Hanes, and his wife, | Jan, of Franklin; two daughters, | Mrs. Bobby (Patsy) Morel of Brentwood and Mrs. Chet (Judy) Travirca of Gautier, Miss.; brother, Tom of Columbia; two sisters, Mrs. Eula Dale of Franklin and Mrs. Dot Coley of Lafayette, and six grandchildren, Brittan, Meg and Hayden Morel, Tripp Sparkman, Keller and Meredith Medlin. Memorials may be made to the American Heart Assn.

Newspaper source WILLIAMSON LEADER
Source date 1997/2/20
Photos & Info by Wayne Austin, 30 Jan 2008. Revised by Compilation from MB McClain Richardson