Thomas Hughes Gentry -- Community Leader

 

Thomas Hughes Gentry

Thomas Hughes Gentry was born October 12, 1925 in Trigg County, Kentucky.  He was the eldest child of Thomas Perry and Eliza Dell Hughes Gentry who were both natives of Trigg County, Kentucky.  Thomas Perry was a farmer who lived in the Oak Grove community. Tom had four younger sisters, Lillian Pearl Gentry, born in 1927 and died in infancy; Rachel Louise Gentry, born in 1931; Clara Dell Gentry, born in 1937 and Mary Jo Gentry, born in 1939.

Tom grew up on the family farm and attended Oak Grove School.  On November 15, 1945, he was drafted into the military and was assigned to the U.S. Army Air Corps at Camp Atterbury, Indiana.  He was later assigned to the 6th Air Force, ATO, USAAC and served as a supply clerk in Atkinson Field, British Guiana.  Tom was discharged from the military on December 13, 1946 as a private first class.

After the military, Tom returned to the family farm in Trigg County. The following year on May 11, 1947, Tom married Nellie Evelyn Thomas.  Nella, as she was known, was born on November 2, 1925 in the Oak Grove community.  Her parents were Alfred Cullen Thomas and Nellie Stewart Thomas, both natives of Trigg County. Nella served as a teacher at the Oak Grove School from 1946 to 1948 and went on to work at Elk Brand Manufacturing Co. and Western State Hospital as a secretary.

Although Tom operated the family farm in the Oak Grove community where he raised cattle, he had several other positions in the county.  He worked several years at the Elk Brand Manufacturing Co. and was employed as a car salesman with Boggess Chevrolet. He went on to serve as a clerk at the Cadiz Post Office.  He retired from the U. S. Postal Service in 1990.

Tom was prominent Cadiz and Trigg County community leader and was very active in community affairs.  Being a veteran, he was a member of the local American Legion Post 74. He was past master of the Cadiz Masonic Lodge, a member of the York Rite, the Scottish Rite, and a Shriner.  He served on the Barkley Lake Water District Commission and was a member of the board of the Cadiz-Trigg County Regional Water District. He was a member of the Cadiz-Trigg County Chamber of Commerce and the Trigg County Golf Club. He was a former member of the board of the Trigg County Hospital, the Medical Arts Building Board, the Cadiz-Trigg County Planning board and the Bank of Cadiz advisory board.

In 2004, Tom and Nella were honored by the Cadiz-Trigg County Chamber of Commerce as Citizens of the Year for their community service.

He was a life member and former vice president of the Thomas-Bridges Association and had served as chairman for many years of the annual Thomas-Bridges Golf Tournament. The tournament was subsequently named the Thomas Hughes Gentry Memorial Golf Tournament in his honor.

Thomas Hughes Gentry died on Saturday, March 5, 2005, at Jennie Stuart Medical Center in Hopkinsville, Kentucky of complications caused by pneumonia.  He was 79 year old.  He was buried in the Starkie Thomas Cemetery near his home in the Oak Grove community.  Nella died on August 14, 2012 and was buried next to her husband.

Thomas Gentry and Nella

Gentry Tombstone

LINEAGE:  (Thomas Hughes Gentry was the son of Thomas Perry and Eliza Dell Hughes Gentry, grandson of Mason Hamilton and Mattie Pearl Thomas Hughes and great-grandson of Wesley Gunn and Eliza Henderson Thomas.  Wesley was the sixth child of Stanley and Emily Ann Light Thomas.  Stanley was the second child of Starkie and Mary Bridges Thomas.  Starkie was the fourth child of James Thomas and Mary Standley Thomas.  Mary was the seventh child of Drury Bridges and Charity Cohoon Bridges.)