James William Warner III

He was a charter member of Westminster Presbyterian Church and a lifetime Nashville resident. He attended Ransom Elementary School and West End High School where he was on the golf team. In 1941 he entered Vanderbilt University and was a member of Phi Delta Theta. He voluntarily enlisted into the Naval Air Corp where he trained as a fighter pilot until the end of World War II. He was stationed in Corpus Christi, TX and Pensacola, FL, initially learning to fly on crop duster planes and later specializing in the SBD Dauntless, F4U CORSAIR, and F6F Hellcat. Although he did not see combat, he did survive a forced landing in the Florida swamps. In 1945, he enrolled in The University of Tennessee School of Pharmacy in Memphis where he played basketball and graduated in 1948. He was a third generation pharmacist who worked at Warner Drug Company. The family business, established around 1900, grew to a chain of seven stores by 1928. He loved and cared for his customers very dearly, and they fondly referred to him as Dr. Warner or “Doc”. He worked until age 86, spending the last decade employed by CVS. He was an active member of the Tennessee Pharmacists Association until 2009.

Billy was a member of the Murdoch McLeod Bible Study group of Westminster Presbyterian for more than 40 years. He was a member of a Monday men’s lunch group for over 30 years with Sydney McAllister, Wilson Sims, Charles Robinson, and the late Mike Craig, Bernard Evers, Bill Earthman, Bill Brittain and Dr. Herschel Graves. He was a member of Belle Meade Country Club. He enjoyed golf, tennis, and swimming. He and his wife, Joycie, played in a Thursday couples tennis group for 35 years.

Billy was a loving son, brother, husband, father and grandfather. He is preceded in death by his father James William Warner, Jr. and his mother Kate Badger Warner. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Joyce Walne Warner of Yazoo City, Mississippi; his sister Ellen Warner Hudson (Nashville, TN); his four children Ellen Warner Wilkins (Nashville, TN), Bill (Cindy) Warner (Madison, MS), Read (Robi) Warner (Nashville, TN), Hunt (Shea) Warner (Atlanta, GA); and nine grandchildren: Maggie Wilkins, Hannah Kate Wilkins, Jim Wilkins (Nashville, TN), Emily Warner (Madison, MS), Badger Warner, Riley Warner, Carr Warner (Atlanta, GA), Kate Warner, and Molly Warner (Nashville, TN).

Active Pallbearers are Sydney McAllister, Ben Doubleday, Wilson Sims, Jack Gibson of Ponte Vedra, FL, Jay Walne of Collierville, TN, Lon Tenison, Sr., Thomas M. Hudson, Jr., Lon Tenison, Jr. and William Bainbridge.

Honorary Pallbearers are Wilson D. Fuqua, Charles H. Robinson, Hap Castner, William Akers, Robert Warner, and Dr. John Sloan Warner.

The family wishes to extend gratitude to Mr. Warner’s caregivers in his later years: Gigi Stephens, Nicole Little, Helen Burns, Rose Pickens, Dr. John Anderson and the staff at Centennial Medical Center.

The burial will precede the Memorial Service at 11:00 am on Wednesday, August 12, 2015 at Mount Olivet Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 2:00-4:00 pm at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 3900 West End Avenue, Nashville, TN 37205 and a Memorial Service at 4:00 pm.

Memorial Donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 4825 Trousdale Drive, Suite 220, Nashville, TN 37220.

Visit the online obituary:www.MarshallDonnellyCombs.com.