Barret Ashley

Barret Ashley, 83, of Dyersburg, died Sunday, Feb. 29, 2004 at Dyersburg Regional Medical Center.

He was an attorney and a member of Cumberland Presbyterian Church for over 50 years where he was a Sunday school teacher.

He attended Dyersburg schools and graduated from Dyersburg High School in 1938. He attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville until he enlisted in the U.S. Navy where he was a pilot.

After World War II he returned to UT and finished law school in 1947 with degrees in business and law. In college he was a competitive swimmer. Ashley was president of his fraternity, Alpha Tau Omega, and a member of the Scarabbean Society, an invitational group of campus leaders. He practiced law in Dyersburg for nearly 60 years, beginning in 1947 when he and his father started the law firm that now is Ashley, Ashley and Arnold. He was a member of the Dyer County, Tennessee and American bar associations and of the Tennessee Bar Foundation. He was a member of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and the International Association of Defense Counsel.

He served as a statewide campaign manager for Sen. Estes Kefauver in his candidacy for president in 1952. He continued to participate in Democratic Party politics over the years.

Ashley was instrumental in creating McIver's Grant Public Library by combining two existing libraries and in obtaining governmental support, together with securing the transfer of the former post office building by the U.S. government for library purposes.

He requested and obtained the help and support of Kefauver in bringing about the federal approval and construction of the I-155 bridge overt the Mississippi River.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Cumberland Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Larry Blakeburn officiating. Burial will be in Fairview Cemetery in Dyersburg.

The family will receive visitors at 5-7 p.m. today at Curry Funeral Home.

Survivors include his wife, Ina Ashley of Dyersburg; three daughters, Mary Barret Gillum and Lina Lee Rowland, both of Nashville and Tandy P. Tinkle of Holladay; a son, C.T. "Tarry" Poindexter of Franklin; a sister, Mary K. Bickford of Roanoke, Va.; a brother, Ray Ashley of Dyersburg; nine grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Randolph A. and Mary Maude Barret Ashley.

Pallbearers will be Zach Tinkle, Matthew Poindexter, Leo Arnold, King Rogers, Trip Folk and E.T. Poindexter VI. Honorary pallbearers will be Green Smitheal Jr., T. Cutchins, Bob Little, Fleming Hodges, Seymour Yates, Pete Boatright and Milton Rice.