Cecil Ingle

Mr. Cecil Edward Ingle, age 88, passed away on November 15, 2018 at his home in Dyer, TN. Cecil was born in Tazewell, TN in Claiborne County on May 21, 1930. He graduated from Claiborne County High School in 1948. He went on to receive a bachelor’s degree in Botany in 1952 from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Cecil then spent two years in the U.S. Army during the Korean War with the rank of Sergeant. Upon the completion of his military service, he attended the University of Tennessee Pharmacy School in Memphis, where he graduated second in his class in 1958. While in Memphis, Cecil met Faye Vaughan of Yorkville, TN, who was attending the University of Tennessee’s Medical Technology program, and they married on May 10, 1957. They later moved to Dyersburg, TN where Cecil served as a pharmacist at the downtown Rexall drugstore. In 1962, they moved to Dyer, TN where Cecil bought his first drugstore called Dyer Drugs, which later became Ingle Quality Drugs. In the early 1980s, he joined the Kroger Company, where he served as lead pharmacist at both its Jackson and Dyersburg, TN stores. He retired in 1995 after nearly 40 years of pharmacy practice. Cecil loved his family, his church, and helping his community. He also had a life-long passion for horticulture and the visual arts. He spent countless hours throughout his adult life tending to his garden at his home in Dyer and sharing his knowledge and love for plants with others throughout the area. After retirement, his private collection of plants that he nurtured and cultivated rivaled anyone’s in West Tennessee. At one point, he had over 150 varieties of hosta plants in his yard in Dyer. Cecil also was an accomplished artist, and painted extensively in watercolors and oils for more than five decades. He also used his artistic talent to give back to the community through his volunteer work, spending many nights and weekends painting backdrops for Dyer school programs, town events, church programs, and the Nite Lite Theatre in Trenton, TN. He was also active in the Gibson County Visual Arts Association. He was a long-time member of the Dyer Church of Christ, where he served many years as Elder. He also painted the church’s baptistry mural 40 years ago, which is still in use today. The mural depicts a distant sunset shining over a pastoral setting reminiscent of the East Tennessee hills where Cecil spent his childhood. Cecil is preceded in death by his loving wife, Faye Vaughan Ingle (who passed away in 2003); his mother, Edith Brooks Ingle; his father, Fred Ingle; and his half-sister, Loretta Ingle Sorrells. He is survived by his son, Edward Ingle and daughter-in-law, Arezu Ghadi Ingle of Washington, DC; his son, John Ingle, daughter-in-law Renee Kaufman, and his grandson, Oscar Cecil Kaufman-Ingle of San Francisco, CA; and his sister, Shirley Ingle Carey of Powell, TN. Visitation for Cecil will occur at 5pm to 8pm on Saturday, November 17 at the Karnes & Son Funeral Home in Dyer, TN at 134 W. College Street. Funeral services will occur on Sunday, November 18 at 2pm at Karnes & Son as well, followed by burial services at the Yorkville, TN cemetery. A tribute gift donation in memory of Cecil Ingle may be made via the Alzheimer’s Association website at alz.org or via this link or call 1-800-272-3900 (for the “Cecil E. Ingle Tribute Fund”).