Funeral services for Mr. Bennie Ross Pillow, age 92, of Sanger, TX formerly of Friendship, TN, will take place at 10 AM on Thursday, August 1, 2024 in the Shelton-Hunt Funeral Home chapel in Humboldt, TN. Burial with military honors will follow in the Lebanon Methodist Church Cemetery in Jackson, TN. Visitation will be Wednesday, July 31, 2024 from 5 PM until 8 PM at the funeral home.
Mr. Pillow went to live with his son Randy and daughter-in-law Pat in August 2022, after his declining health. He enjoyed living out his remaining life with us and getting to watch his grand animals Bear, Phil, and Tails play. He tended to the chickens with daily feedings and collecting their eggs, and gained 40 Lbs. from being happy. He absolutely loved being spoiled by us.
Mr. Pillow graduated from Humboldt High School in 1951, he played football through his years there and was very proud of his accomplishments. In his junior year, his football team was co-champions with Covington High School and during his senior year, the team became the Big – 10 Champions.
Mr. Pillow was drafted into the Army and served from 1955-1957. He went into basic training in Ft. Smith, Arkansas then was sent to Ft. Benning, Georgia for two years. He was honorably discharged as a Corporal, specializing in vehicle maintenance. Upon returning from the Army, Bennie went to work for Lashlee – Rich (Humboldt), then was hired at J. Hungerford Smith (Humboldt) where he worked for nine years, his employee worker number was #1. His next job was in the refrigerator department at Piggly Wiggly (Jackson), he worked there for twenty years, until the company closed. He also worked for General Metals during his lifetime.
Mr. Pillow had many hobbies: fishing, squirrel and rabbit hunting, and even winning many awards and trophies for raccoon hunting along with some of his brothers. He also enjoyed playing basketball with Randy and many of the neighborhood guys just about every afternoon at the house in Humboldt. Bennie was a good gardener, he prided himself in growing many fruits and vegetables and this knowledge was passed on to his son. He would always tell Randy that it would take at least five years to learn the knowledge and grow a successful garden. Bennie was also a good cook, some of his specialty goodies were blackberry cobbler, pecan pie, squirrel stew, and vegetable beef soup.
Mr. Pillow is preceded in death by his ex-wife, Reba Greene Pillow McKernan; his parents, Ezra and Rosa (Woodard) Pillow; his brothers, Clyde Pillow, Lyle Pillow, Clifton Pillow, Bobby Pillow, David Pillow, Travis Pillow and Hermon Pillow; and his sisters, Mattie Jo Knox and Betty Jean Van Why.
Mr. Pillow is survived by his son, Randy Lynn Pillow and wife Pat of Friendship, TN; his daughter, Vicki Pillow Little of Fulton, KY; his grandchildren who he is extremely proud of, Taylor Lynn Pillow of Humboldt, TN and Savannah Lynn Pillow Montgomery and husband Pake of McKinney, TX; and his sister, Margaret Middleton of Humboldt, TN.
Shelton-Hunt Funeral Home
