Clyde Randolph Cagle Jr.

He is Preceded in death by his parents, Clyde R. Cagle, Sr. And Dorothy M. Cagle of Knoxville; sister, Delores Ann Glover, of Knoxville; and a daughter, Elizabeth Yvonne Lowe (Cagle).

Clyde was an old southern gentleman. His life was filled with meaningful endeavors that make life worth living. Honest work, ingenuity, family, friendship, generosity, and service to others. He believed a man’s word ought to mean something along with a fierce work ethic.

He attended Fulton High School in Knoxville and later married Anne Miller Cagle. Together they had two daughters, Elizabeth Cagle Lowe and Stacey Cagle Hammond.

Clyde’s working life began at Harris Chicken in Knoxville before going to work for Dempster Brothers in 1960. It was there that the uncommon abilities of a young man began to reveal themselves.

Clyde possessed that rare mechanical mind made for industrial problem solving. He was recognized early as an innovator; he was promoted to foreman at the age of 24. He excelled as a mechanic and metal fabricator to help develop equipment that was eventually incorporated throughout the company.

Among his innovations was a track welding system that transformed the fabrication of refuse containers, allowing them to be processed faster and more economically.

Clyde was not merely skilled with his hands, but he understood machinery and structure almost instinctively. Steel gears, hydraulics, engines and steel fabrication were a gift he seemed to be born knowing.

After twelve years with Dempster Bros. Clyde had acquired the experience, confidence and vision to strike out on his own. He founded Cagle Welding and Equipment. He designed and built his own trash compactors and refuse containers and modified trucks to carry dumpsters and all types of refuse receptacles.

He designed and constructed trash collection systems for dormitories at the University of TN Knoxville. He was drawn to a difficult job; the thing somebody said could not be done or had not yet figured out how to do it.

He built gantry cranes, race cars, boats, fabricated machinery and solved mechanical problems because the challenge and curiosity itself appealed to him. In his own time, he was known as a visionary and pioneer, forever making things stronger, simpler, faster or cheaper.

His greater legacy was his role as a “Servant Leader” in the lives of so many people.

He performed deeds without announcement and usually anonymously. He possessed a genuine affection for his fellow man and went about doing works worthy of repentance. His generosity extended to friends, employees, acquaintances and sometimes simply to people who had fallen upon hard times.

Clyde opened his home to the sick and dying. He paid for funerals for his friends who couldn’t afford to themselves. He provided access to treatment for those suffering with drugs or alcohol. He did these things not because he was naive about human weakness but because he held firmly to the belief that a human life was worth saving.

Clyde represented the best of old Southern and Christian values, that a man might stumble badly and still be worth helping to get back on his feet. He was a altruistic man in the oldest meaning of the word, measuring his good fortune partly by what good it allowed him to do for somebody else. The proper measure of Clyde Randolph Cagle, Jr is the lives he touched.

Thank you to everyone at UT Hospice for being so loving and compassionate to our family and especially to Clyde. Also, a huge thank you to everyone who came to his home and helped us in our time of need.

Clyde leaves behind his daughter, Stacey Cagle Hammond (Jim), his grandson, Ben Fraker of Signal Mountain; granddaughter, Sarah Fraker Roberts (Jim); grandsons, Christopher Lowe (Ashley) of Luttrell, TN, Anthony Lowe of Knoxville, Bryce Huskey of Knoxville and Eli Huskey of Knoxville; granddaughters, Texas Cordell (Mitch) of Dunlap, TN and Georgia Belcher (Chad) of Madisonville, TN; and numerous great-grandchildren. Visitation will be on Saturday, August 15th at Weaver Funeral from 12-1 with a 1 pm Memorial Service. Condolences are welcomed at www.weaverfuneralservices.com.