Obituary of Douglas P. Thurley

Douglas Thurley passed away on January 12, 2012 at age 83. The family will be receiving friends at Sellars Funeral Home in Lebanon from 4-8 p.m. on Monday and from 10 a.m. until the service on Tuesday. The Memorial Service is 11 a.m. Tuesday, January 17, 2012. Honorary Pallbearers: Vic McDonald, Vince Barry, Kaye Denton, Julia McFarland, Glynn Young, Bill Westerbeck and the Wilson County Election Commission. The family extends a special thank you to the staff at Southern Manor for their excellent care. Memorial Donations: American Lung Association (One Vantage Way, Suite B-130, Nashville TN 37228). Mr. Thurley was born April 10, 1928 in Edmonton England. He graduated from Christ's Hospital in December 1944 and then began an engineering apprenticeship at Vickers-Armstrong in Kent, England. In March 1946 he joined the Royal British Army Tank Regiment. He served 7 years in the Royal Army then returned to England and worked for Austin Motor Company. He immigrated to the United States in 1956. In 1960 he went to work for Gemmer Gears and moved to Tennessee in 1961 with Ross Gear as Chief Product Engineer. He was promoted to Plant Manager in January 1966 and stayed in that position until August 1976. He left Lebanon for 6 years, but returned in 1982 as Plant Manager and remained in that position until his retirement from TRW in October 1988. He joined the Wilson County Election Commission in 1994 and worked with them until his retirement in 2011. Survivors include three children: Sheila (Carl) Schmaedig, Diane (Ed) Roddey, and Rod (Dawn) Thurley; siblings: Reg Thurley, Paul Thurley, and John Thurley; four grandchildren: Jennifer, Hunter, and Hannah Thurley, and Joshua Crosslin; three great-grandchildren: Trenton, Ronan, and Isley Cross; and numerous nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by wife of 59 years, Margaret Thurley, parents Reginald H. and Mabel Morris Thurley, and sisters Bettie Smart, Anne Belton, and Janet Davey.