Donald Ray Mccammon

Donald Ray McCammon, 82, passed away May 26, 2009. He was born and raised in Maryville where he began his entrepreneurial adventures at an early age. He carried newspapers in the early hours before school earning enough for candy at Lloyd Phelps Ice Cream Shop and 25 cents pocket change. He mowed lawns with a push mower, washed dishes at Gilbert’s Drug Store, sold watermelons and hauled produce from what became Harper Street Fruit Market. He worked as a clerk at the White Store when he first received Social Security in 1938. While still in high school he worked as an electrician apprentice at Alcoa. He graduated from Maryville High School in 1944 and at age 17 entered the V-5 Navy program for pilot training. He was at the pre-flight school at St. Mary’s College in California when the war ended. He returned home and graduated from Maryville College in 1950. In 1952, he went to work for Union Carbide at Oak Ridge where he was a buyer in purchasing and then the Administrator of Surplus Property Sales. He retired in 1989. Don was devoted to his family that included many dogs along the way. He could be seen driving down the road in the Karman Ghia or stake bed truck with at least one dog in tow. He loved to build houses and built 5 in his lifetime. He died peacefully at his home he built down on the lake. Don was preceded in death by his parents, Clarence and Cleo Harper McCammon and brother, Jack McCammon. He is survived by his devoted wife, Kathi McCammon; stepsons, Josh and Dario Gildrie; and beloved granddaughter, Talia Gildrie. Special thanks to the wonderful staff at Covenant Hospice Care. Funeral services will be at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in McCammon-Ammons-Click Funeral Home Chapel. The interment will follow at Grandview Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 1:30-2:30 p.m. Sunday at McCammon-Ammons-Click Funeral Home, Maryville. (865