Dwight Hassell, age 90, died July 17, 2022 in Houston, TX.
Dwight was a loving, supportive father and grandfather who instilled in his children the value of hard work and sheer determination, defiance of would-be bullies, and a mischievous sense of humor. He made his way in life with pluck and persistence. As one of his closest observers said, “dude never quit.”
Born in 1932 in western Tennessee (Gibson County), Dwight’s earliest years were marked by Depression, war, and generally tough times. A soda jerk in his young teens, he learned the value of a nickel and of good relationships with customers. Dwight was awarded Mr. Personality and Class President by his high school peers.
After marrying Anita Jean Steele in 1952, Dwight served in the U.S. Army before the young couple moved in 1958 to a Nashville suburb. This “middle third” of their lives was for raising a family, and this period created a lifelong attachment to Middle Tennessee. Dwight spent a decade in “data processing” with early computers before shifting into sales, which better exploited his natural ability to connect with others. His family joked that he could have a good-natured conversation with a gasoline pump.
Dwight’s customers were his best friends, greeting him like family and trusting him to serve their best interests. Many simply signed the purchase orders he wrote for them, based on his judgement on what would sell to their shoppers. Serving multiple states for years by car, his weekends at home became downtime. With their two sons in college by the late 1970s, Dwight’s work eventually took him and Anita to New Hampshire for a decade and (by 1989) to Houston, where they have lived for more than three decades.
Dwight was preceded in death by his parents, Percy and Bessie Hassell, and by sisters Mary Lou Hanna and Mildred Dunagan.
Survivors include his wife of 70 years, Anita Steele Hassell; sons Mike (of Nashville) and Greg (of Houston), with their wives Susan and Cheryl; grandchildren Emily and Thomas, Jackson and Jamie; nephews Tom Dunagan and Wayne Morgan, nieces Shelby Cassity and Jan Fox, and a large extended family of Steeles and Stinsons.
A celebration of his life will be held in Humboldt, TN at 2 p.m. on Saturday July 23, 2022, at Shelton-Hunt Funeral Home.
Shelton-Hunt Funeral Home
