Joe Lee Caperton was born February 11, 1940, in Wayne County, Tennessee to the late Mallie Elizabeth Gambrell and Frencher Mac Caperton. He married Brenda Williams on March 16, 1963. Joe Lee retired from Murray Ohio, Inc. after working there for 35 years. He then retired from the Wayne County Highway Department after working there for eight years. Joe Lee was a member of the Williams Chapel Freewill Baptist Church.
Joe Lee departed this life on Friday, May 19, 2023, at the age 83 years 3 months 8 days, surrounded by his wife and a host of friends. He passed shortly after his granddaughter Halle received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Tennessee of which he was proud.
Joe Lee spent a lifetime hunting deer and skinning them for the entire Holly Creek community and beyond. He loved nothing more than to be at a cookout with all his buddies and their sons. Joe Lee trained horses and mules, and often gave carriage rides to local children and his granddaughter and her friends. Many gates and television towers were welded by him over the years. For years, Joe Lee was a member of the Wayne County Civil Defense. One of his greatest joys was watching his granddaughter Halle and her friend Olivia ride horses. In the 1990’s, Joe Lee was instrumental in convincing County Executive Coy Anderson that Holly Creek needed a Volunteer Fire Department. While many thought this could never be accomplished, he never wavered in his belief that this needed to happen and would succeed. Since August 1998, the Holly Creek Volunteer Fire Department has been serving the community.
Joe Lee was preceded in death by his parents; son, Anthony Joe Caperton; daughter, Amy Caperton; brothers, Paul Caperton (Maxie), Bud Caperton (Chapel), Rab (Lawrence) Caperton (Rachel), Foxie (Clarence) Caperton (June), Coolidge Caperton (Imogene), Fred Mac Caperton, and Sam Caperton; sisters, Mary Francis McClendon, Lillie Mae Dobbs (William), and Nannie Lou (Dewey)Garrard.
He is survived by his wife of sixty years, Brenda Caperton; daughter, Charlotte Caperton Kilburn (James) of Charleston, SC; son, Shane Caperton (Tracy) of Franklin, TN; granddaughter, Halle Kilburn of Charleston, SC; his grandchildren-in-love, Camryn (Hannah) and Chapel Eaton, Kaylee Eaton, Olivia Lawhorn and Jasmine Singleton, Kodi Arnett (Laura), Laken Arnett, Shelby Borum, Kaylee Brooke Arnett, and Haley Robbins; family friend, Frank Singleton (Yati); sister, Lillian Butler, Holly Creek, TN; brother, Hoover Caperton, Lawrenceburg, TN; a host of nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, at 11am at Shackelford Funeral Directors in Collinwood, TN with Tim Hanback and Camryn Eaton officiating. Burial will follow in Hollis Cemetery in Iron City, TN with Shackelford Funeral Directors assisting the family.
Pallbearers: Chuck Moser, JC Daniel, Daniel Caperton, Nick Caperton, Mickey Todd, and David Caperton. Honorary pallbearers: Darin Arnett, DF Caperton, Frank Singleton, Jerry Butler, and Michael Thompson.
