Taylor Funeral Home

Obituaries
Thomas Ralph Underwood
Date of Death or Service Dec 12, 2020
Thomas Ralph Underwood
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 A private service with Military Honors will be held for Mr. Thomas Ralph Underwood, age 86 of Burns, TN who died on Saturday, December 12, 2020 from cancer.  Place of rest will be in the Dickson County Memorial Gardens. To view a livestream of the service on Friday, Dec. 18, 2020, please click HERE.

Ralph was born on August 31, 1934 in Puryear, TN.  He was a son of the late, Clarence Lee Underwood and Selona Geneva Hendricks Underwood, the youngest of their 14 children.  Growing up, he worked hard on the family farm, and went to high school at Puryear High School, where he played basketball as a guard.  Despite being a very small school, his basketball team played in the Tennessee State Basketball Championships in 1951.  After high school he served his Country in the U.S. Army (February 1953 – February 1955) and the U.S. Army Reserves (1955 – 1961).  Corporal Underwood attended Signal School at Ft. Monmouth, NJ and served in the Co. B. 303rd Signal Battalion at Ft. Huachuca, AZ.  He was among 7 brothers who served in the military, with 6 of them having served during WWII.  His Army Signal training sparked a love of technology that led to his successful 40 year career at Southern Bell/BellSouth/AT&T as a telecommunications engineer.  After retirement, volunteer work at Horizon Medical Center in Dickson turned into a second post-retirement “dream job” as a Technical Analyst, where he was able to work on personal computers and problem solve which he enjoyed immensely.  PC’s were a fun hobby of his since they became common place in the early 1980’s. He also loved helping people.

Ralph married Joan C. Humphreys on October 22, 1955, a journey that would last over 65 years.  The couple had four daughters and moved to Dickson County in 1972 to live on a small horse farm in Burns.  The family had a wonderful life in the country with numerous pets, a vegetable garden, badminton games, and of course basketball.  Ralph also had a love of cars, having owned many in his lifetime.  His favorites were a 1965 Mustang, a 1972 Volkswagen Beetle and 1976 Datsun 280 Z.  He also was quite partial to Joan’s homemade biscuits and cornbread and cherry cobbler with vanilla ice cream.

Ralph was a quiet gentle person with a quick wit and great sense of humor.  He was an excellent husband and father who was always there for people who needed him.  He will be missed inexpressibly.

He was a member of the Dickson First United Methodist Church since the family moved to Burns in 1972.  Prior to moving to Burns, he was a member and lay leader at the West Nashville United Methodist Church. 

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his 5 sisters, Ila, Annie Laurie, Selona, Betty and Dortha Nell; and his 8 brothers, Paul, Lexie, T.J., Stacy, Earl, Barkley, W.D., and Prentice.

He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Joan Carol Humphreys Underwood; his daughters, Lisa Underwood Jones, Leslie Underwood Hamdorff (Jim), Julie Underwood Baker (Patrick), and Jennifer Underwood Sanders (Rob); sister-in-law, Anna Merle McSwain Underwood; 5 grandchildren, Eric Jones, Daniel Jones (Catherine Petty Jones), Ryan Hamdorff, Sara Hamdorff, Selona Baker; great grandchild, Palmer Jones; numerous nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Dickson First United Methodist Church and either designate use for the Volunteers in Mission Program or the church’s Christian Life Center:  www.dicksonfumc.org or Dickson FUMC, 215 N Main St., Dickson, TN 37055.

 

Services under the direction of the Taylor Funeral Home (615) 446-2808, TaylorSince1909.com

 

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