Garry W. Hood was born April 15, 1955, in Monterey , TN. Garry passed away on May 15, 2025. He is the son of Robert (Jack) and Rose Marie Hood. He attended Woody Elementary School and graduated from Cumberland County High School in 1973 . H e started in the funeral service that same year at Bilbrey Funeral Home in Crossville. From 1974 until 1975 he continued his education at Tomlinson College in Cleveland, TN, and beg an his studies at Kentucky School of Mortuary Science in 1975.

Garry married Deborah Taylor in May of 1976 after graduating from mortuary school. Upon completion of his education, he began his career at Pikeville Funeral Home in Pikeville, TN as a general manager . In 1978 he returned to Bilbrey Funeral Home, where he worked until 2001, when he then purchased the former Burris Funeral Home in Crossville, TN and renamed it Hood Funeral Home and Crematory .

He has been very active throughout his career in the community. H e served as the president for the Tennessee Funeral Directors Association from 2011-2012. Currently he was serving on the Cumberland County Fair Board where he has served for 41 years. He loved the fair board and all the people he worked with over the years . It was through there that he made so many friends locally and across the state . Garry spent many years as president and served in all facets for the Cumberland County Fair . In 1998, he was president of Tennessee Association of Fairs and managed to visit all 55 count y and regional fairs. He has also served as president of the PTO at North Cumberland Elementary School and served on the board of directors with Cumberland County Farmers Co-op .  He has organized several community events in the county. He has been a huge supporter of the Senior Centers of Cumberland County where he took many trips to eat, and watch shows.

Garry and his wife have one daughter, Samantha, who was bor n in 1980 . She has blessed Garry and Deborah with two precious grandchildren, Madison and Jackson .

Garry was a lifelong member of Lawrence Chapel Church. He was the greatest storyteller and always had everyone laughing. He enjoy e d working, fishing , camping, cooking for people , eati ng, farming , gardening , canning and r i d i n g h i s m o t o r cycle. He also like d to find time for a good game of golf. Garry was very gifted in many areas and enjoyed numerous things. He loved cooking but especially enjoyed teaching his granddaughter how to cook. They spent many hours in the kitchen together. He often bragged that she was a better cook than him. Every day she made his meals and made sure he had plenty to eat. Madi has been a papas girl from day one and they shared a bond like no other.

He loved all his girls, but he was especially fond of his grandson , Jack . He loved farming and teaching Jack everything he knew about fishing, farming and life lessons about being a good man. He and Jack enjoyed riding around and listening to Willie ' s Roadhouse where they both knew all the words to every song. Jack recently graduated from diesel school and is working at M ountain Farm and Garry was over the moon . They would have daily discussions a bout tractors and things he was working on.

Garry was so proud that Samantha went to mortuary school to follow in his footsteps . He loved passing on his knowledge of the funeral industry and often said he taught her everything he knew. They worked side by side every day for years . You rarely s aw one without the other . Samantha i s a daddy's girl through and through . Then came alo ng his granddaughter who is currently enrolled in mortuary school, and he could not have been prouder to have three generations working together. The last few months he has been waiting and caring for families and was teaching his granddaughter . Garry especially loved all his staff who were more family than co-workers at Hood Funeral Home ; Pat Bryant, Wes Shaw, Bryson Lawson, Mike Bailey and Sam Maynar d.

On April 4, 2024, Daxson Hood Lawson was born, his g reat grandson, which became the light of his life . Daxson and Garry had an inseparable bond, and Dax was very loved by his papa .

Garry loved his family and showed them every day , and there are no words for the love his f amily ha d for him. He was with his family every day and he was never alone . He often joked that he had three mommas as he referred to Debbie, Samantha a nd Madi . Garry was a jokester, always telling jokes and always making people laugh .

Garry helped so many people and familie s . He always said the funeral home was never a job to him . He truly lived everyday helping people. He consi dered it a ministry and a blessing to help people in their time of need. He poured his hear t and soul into his work . Gary loved people, all people and he had so many dear friends that he cherished . He cared for people and loved people more than anyone. He always told his daughter always be good to people, treating them with love and respect and you will never go wrong .

Garry's favorite saying, "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Garry is preceded in death by his parents Robert (Jack) and Rose Marie Cox Hood . G randparents, Albert and Dovey Lou ( Whited ) Hood and Lawrence and Martha Cox. Father and mother-in-law , Homer and Laura Taylor and a b est friend , Dr . Larry Reed .

He is survived by his wife , Deborah Hood ; daughter , Samantha Hood Williams, g randchildren , Madison Hood Lawson (Bryson) , Jack Hood Williams (Shania), Great Grandchild Daxson Hood Lawson, Special second daughter , Denise Carey aka Carl, Special dear friends , Everett Boli n and Bob and Linda Bottoms.

Funeral services will be held on Sunday, May 18, 2025, at 2:0 0 PM with the body to lie in state from 1pm-2pm prior to the service at the Chapel of Hood Funeral Home . Burial will follow in Green Acres Memory Gardens .

Visitation will be held Saturday May 17, 2025, from 4 :00 PM to 7 :00 PM at Hood Funeral Home .