Peggy Barkley Dugger

Published 4:36 pm Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Peggy Barkley Dugger, 89, died Monday, March 26, 2018, at Regency Retirement Village after an 18-year journey with Alzheimer’s disease.
She was born Peggy Mae Barkley on an unusual snowy April 28, 1928 in Johnson City, Tenn. She moved to Elizabethton as an infant when her parents opened Barkley’s Men’s Clothing Store in 1930. As a teenager, she worked in the store and learned the craft of sewing by altering men’s suits. Peggy loved to sew and had continuous sewing projects for the next 60 years. As a child, she studied ballet and tap dance for 10 years until a basketball injury sidelined her dreams. She loved to jitterbug, swing dance and taught dance at Morristown College in the early 1960s.
Peggy was a graduate of the Elizabethton High School Class of 1946, where she loved her classmates and enjoyed reunions. She attended Virginia Intermont College for two years then married John Dugger in 1949. They resided in West Knoxville from 1952 to 1960 while John was Assistant US attorney. In 1961, they moved to Morristown where she resided until her death.
Peggy was a member of the First United Methodist Church, where she spent countless hours needlepointing prayer benches and cross stitching Christmas ornaments. She was a 50+ year member of the GFWC Ladies Reading Circle and past president. Peggy was active in the Hamblen County Republican Women in the 1960s and 1970s and served on the state Republican Executive Committee.
Peggy was a loving person, who cared for her mother, who died of cancer, and her grandmother, who also died at the age of 89 of Alzheimer’s.
Peggy loved swimming and waterskiing until age 68, along with golfing, working in her flower and vegetable gardens. She would tackle any project from cementing patios, rock walls, wallpaper, putting up crown molding and refinishing furniture, to name a few. Peggy was an avid reader and visited almost all national parks. She enjoyed traveling to Europe, Greece, Turkey, Canada, Mexico, throughout South America, including the Galapagos Islands where she liked telling about swimming with the penguins.
Peggy was preceded in death by her husband of 43 years, State Sen. John F Dugger; parents, Roy and Mae Richards Barkley; daughter, Brenda Dugger; infant son, Barkley Dugger; and cousins raised as sisters, Helen Richards Bailey and Lola Richards Kent.
Peggy is survived by her son and caregiver for the past 18 years, Hon. John F Dugger Jr., who got her ready for bed almost every night and got her up every weekend morning, and wife Jean Anne of Mohawk, Tenn.; daughter, Rebecca Griffin and husband Jim of Charlotte, N.C.; sister-in-law, Jane Dugger of Elizabethton, Tenn.; nephews, Garner Bailey of Johnson City, Tenn., Ret. Lt. Col Michael Kent and wife Lee of Warm Springs, Ga., Mark Dugger and wife Vickie, and Thomas Fouts of Elizabethton, Tenn.; and nieces, Kathy Dugger Edwards and husband Keith of Elizabethton, Tenn., and Patti Kent Leonard and husband Ret. Sgt Major, Ken of Georgetown, Texas; along with several great-nephews and great-nieces.
The family would like to express our sincere gratitude for the special care Peggy received from caregivers, Lois Stroud (after nine years they bonded), Pat Bain, Margie Guinn, Regina Owens, Alice Smalling, Chris Kyle, Anne Davis, Ellie Gamber, Hallie Riggs, Heather Holmes, Jamie Wilson, Carrie Bailey, Vinnie Else, Lisa Brewer, Regency Retirement Village Staff, especially memory care staff and nurse Becky Tuttle, Dr. Gupta and nurse, Corey, Smokey Mountain Hospice and nurse, Greta.
Pallbearers are Garner Bailey, Mark Dugger, Tommy Rogers, Andy Jones, Mike Lynch and Ron Renner. Honorary pallbearers are Robert Wisecarver, Ret. Sgt. Major Ken Leonard, Keith Edwards, Ret. Lt. Col. Michael Kent, Thomas Fouts, Jack Renner, Dr. Steve Lynch and Dan Lynch. The family will receive friends Wednesday, March 28, from 3 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 8 p.m. at Mayes Mortuary, Morristown, Tenn. A graveside service will be held on Thursday, March 29, at 10:30 a.m., officiated by Pastor Fred Lehrer, at Jarnigan Cemetery, Morristown, Tenn. Anyone wishing to attend will meet at the cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to The Pat Summit Foundation, 520 W. Summit Hill Drive, SW #1101, Knoxville, TN 37902 or to the Women’s Clubhouse, Inc. Building Fund, 505 1st North Street, Morristown, TN 37814.
Mayes Mortuary, Morristown, is in charge of arrangements.