John Ernest Beazley's Obituary
BEAZLEY; John Ernest "Ernie"; passed away on June 4, 2010 in Houston, Texas, at the age of 55. He was born on September 9, 1954 in Nashville, Tennessee, where he attended St. Pius X School and Father Ryan High School.He was valedictorian of the Father Ryan High School class of 1972. He attended Vanderbilt University and the University of Tennessee, where he earned a double major in English and History. He worked from the mid 1970's until 1982 at the Knoxville Journal, where he covered politics and TVA, and where he conducted award winning investigative reporting. His reporting in the late 70's and early 80's was instrumental to the criminal indictments surrounding the fall of the Butcher Banking empire. Beazley was a business reporter in Pittsburgh for the Wall Street Journal in the 1980's, covering the decline and fall of the U.S. Steel Industry, T. Boone Pickens' hostile takeover of Gulf Oil, and the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. He later became Business Editor for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper and was a Business Editor for Bloomberg Financial News Services in New York and Houston. He was an avid student of history, politics, literature and film. An advocate for the underdog and the voiceless, Beazley was a lifetime member of the American Humane Society. He is preceded in death by his mother, Edith Patton Beazley of Nashville and is survived by his father, Wilburn Ernest Beazley of Nashville, sister, Patricia J. Beazley of Nashville, daughter Sarah Francis Beazley of Knoxville, aunt Evelyn Patton Felts of Nashville and Uncle and Aunt Don and Joyce Beazley of Old Hickory. Celebration of Life Services will be on Saturday, at 1PM June 12, in the chapel of Spring Hill Funeral Home. Visiting 12-1. Interment will follow in Historic Spring Hill Cemetery. In Lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Heart Association, ASPCA, the American Humane Society or the charity of your choice. Arrangements by: SPRING HILL FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY 5110 Gallatin Road at Briley Parkway, Nashville, TN 37216, (615)865-1101.
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