TDOT Memorial Marker

On September 24, 2008, the Tennessee Department of Transportation, under the direction of Governor Phil Bredesen and Commissioner Gerald Nicely, unveiled a memorial marker to honor state highway workers killed in the line of duty.

The granite marker is located at the Smith County Rest Area along Interstate 40. It is the only rest area in Tennessee accessible to motorists from both sides of the interstate.

The names etched on both sides the marker represent the TDOT men and women killed in the line of duty since 1948, when worker fatalities were first documented by the state.

The marker dedication reads, “In memory of Tennessee Department of Transportation employees who lost their lives building and maintaining our transportation system since 1948,” followed by the names of the fallen workers and the words, “The citizens of Tennessee are indebted and forever grateful for their service.”

As of April 2023, the marker bears the names of the following Tennessee Department of Transportation workers, totaling 113 TDOT lives lost.

1948-1949

Joe D. Dabbs
Region 3
October 1949 (specific date unknown)

1950-1959

H.E. Crowe
Region 4
May 25, 1950

Oscar W. Heck
Region 1
April 14, 1952

William A. Eubank
Region 3
May 12, 1952

C. M. Dunaway
Region 4
July 28, 1952

Roy E. Crutcher
Region 3
March 4, 1952

W. F. Rouse
Region 4
May 29, 1953

Arthur D. Greener
Region 4
June 29, 1953

Roy C. Holmes
Region 4
November 13, 1953

Arnold R. Lee
Region 1
April 12, 1954

Arthur Godsey
Region 1
August 19, 1954

W. C. Butner
Region 4
November 19, 1954

S. D. Newman
Region 2
May 13, 1955

George Grove
Region 2
January 10, 1956

Charles J. Pursley
Region 2
April 27, 1956

Clarence E. Swanner
Region 1
October 15, 1957

W. E. Moore
Region 2
June 9, 1958

James F. Hall
Region 4
October 21, 1958

Hix P. Lewis
Region 3
June 3, 1959

James F. Hicks
Region 4
June 9, 1959

Charles A. Bailey
Region 1
December 3, 1959

1960-1969

Eldy Byford
Region 2
August 2, 1960

Thomas F. Garren
Region 1
August 15, 1960

Ralph Smith
Region 1
March 6, 1961

William D. Robinson
Region 3
August 22, 1961

Guy A. Stephens
Region 4
May 22, 1962

George A. Knight
Region 1
April 18, 1963

H. A. Shiflett
Region 2
August 19, 1963

James W. Duncan
Region 4
August 21, 1963

Ben F. Simmons
Region 4
October 4, 1963

Wallace P. Burnett
Region 4
March 30, 1964

Ross P. Southerland
Region 1
March 31, 1964

John A. Carroll
Region 3
April 2, 1964

Robert S. Neese
Region 2
September 15, 1964

H. L. Nease
Region 3
September 28, 1964

Clarence A. Alsup
Region 4
October 15, 1964

Dorris W. Hyde
Headquarters
August 13, 1965

W. H. Smith
Region 4
October 12, 1965

James T. Austin
Region 3
November 1, 1965

Rudolph A. Brown
Region 2
April 6, 1966

Earl W. Lannom
Region 3
May 7, 1966

Eugene E. Hardison
Region 3
May 10, 1966

Anthony C. McRay, Jr
Region 4
April 17, 1967

Jim A. Damron
Region 4
August 9, 1967

Cecil Vickers
Region 4
August 9, 1967

James Walter Cromwell
Region 1
April 8, 1968

Billy W. Thompson
Region 4
May 22, 1968

James E. Williams
Region 2
June 11, 1968

Thurman Anderson
Region 2
December 2, 1968

Harvey L. Condra
Region 2
October 29, 1969

1970-1979

Roy F. Thompson
Region 4
July 8, 1970

Curtis D. Hicks
Region 4
July 30, 1970

Earnest H. Jones
Region 3
August 4, 1970

Lebby W. McCulley
Region 4
August 5, 1970

Lofton E. Gately
Region 4
August 19, 1970

L. U. Moore
Region 4
November 23, 1970

Win C. Shanks
Region 3
March 18, 1971

Floyd H. Miller
Region 2
August 1, 1971

Raymond E. Wright
Region 1
January 2, 1972

James E. Garner
Region 2
February 22, 1972

John O. McDivitt
Region 4
July 25, 1972

Raymond J. Moredock
Headquarters
August 4, 1972

W. Z. Travis
Region 3
August 29, 1972

Jasper W. Young, Sr
Region 3
January 24, 1973

Dave Lehman, Jr
Region 3
February 27, 1973

James H. Russell
Region 2
March 16, 1973

Thomas B. Wilson
Region 4
May 14, 1973

Richard W. Gammon
Headquarters
February 13, 1975

Harold J. Austin
Region 2
June 6, 1975

James R. Simpson
Region 2
February 2, 1977

Johnnie J. Cain
Region 2
May 11, 1977

Billy C. Griffin
Region 3
June 21, 1977

James E. Lyons
Region 2
October 17, 1977

Mark D. Doughten
Region 4
April 28, 1978

Trulen L. Brookshire
Region 1
May 18, 1978

Jesse W. Jackson
Region 2
August 7, 1979

James R. Futrell
Region 3
November 26, 1979

1980-1989

L. R. Masengil
Region 2
May 28, 1980

Charles E. Marley
Region 1
August 18, 1981

David A. Welch
Region 1
December 9, 1982

Norris Cope, Jr
Region 2
July 7, 1983

Michael R. Austin
Headquarters
January 9, 1984

Wesley H. Grimes
Region 4
May 11, 1984

J. T. Tanner
Region 4
July 31, 1984

J. R. Wiser
Region 3
October 31, 1984

Dewey A. Paschall
Region 4
April 15, 1985

Clyde V. Lane
Region 4
August 5, 1985

A. T. Chadwell, Jr
Region 3
August 29, 1986

Lloyd G. Cherry
Region 3
April 10, 1987

Carl L. McGinnis
Region 1
June 17, 1987

Ronald K. Brown
Region 2
September 7, 1988

Franklin Powell, Sr
Region 4
September 15, 1988

Steven W. Barton
Region 1
August 8, 1989

1990-1999

Don W. Howell
Headquarters
May 30, 1990

Michael A. Menzies
Region 4
August 2, 1990

Michael C. Farley
Region 3
August 30, 1991

G. G. Cortner
Region 2
October 16, 1991

Joe E. Smith
Region 4
April 9, 1992

Robert J. Pendergrass
Region 2
June 2, 1992

Benny H. Householder
Region 1
September 16, 1992

James R. Dunaway
Region 3
July 11, 1995

Sherman D. Payne
Region 4
December 12, 1997

Charles E. Greer
Region 4
July 7, 1999

2000-2009

James E. McNeese
Regin 3
February 8, 2000

Paul Herron
Region 2
October 18, 2000

Robert W. Fish, Jr
Region 4
July 1, 2005

2010-Present

Robert Nowicki
Region 4
June 20, 2011

Michael E. Dalton, Sr
Region 4
September 8, 2011

Scott Jones
Region 4
August 14, 2013

David Younger
Region 3
April 28, 2016

James "Pee Wee" Hopkins
Region 4
July 27, 2016

James "J.R." Rogers
Region 3
December 28, 2016

Trent Johnston
Region 4
September 30, 2022

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