Speck Funeral Home - Millard V. Oakley

Services honoring the extraordinary life of Mr. Millard Vaughn Oakley, age 91, of Livingston, Tennessee, will be conducted at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 24, 2022 at the First Christian Church in Livingston. Rev. James Shenko will officiate. The family will welcome friends on Sunday from 1 p.m. until time of services.

Born May 11, 1930 in Livingston, to T. M. and Cordia Vaughn Oakley, Millard was the youngest of seven children. He graduated from Livingston Academy in 1947, subsequently attending Tennessee Technological University and graduating from Cumberland School of Law in 1951. Millard was a lifelong resident of Overton County, Tennessee.

Millard was engaged in the general practice of law in Livingston from approximately 1953 to 1971. He was elected four terms to the Tennessee State Legislature, four terms as County Attorney of Overton County, and as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. Millard also served as General Counsel for the House Select Committee on Small Business in Washington, DC from 1971 – 1973 and as Tennessee Commissioner of Insurance from 1975-1979. Since 1980, Millard has been involved primarily with real estate and private investments while maintaining his law office and a limited practice.

Mr. Oakley served for many years on the Board of Directors of Thomas Nelson Publishing Company, then the world’s largest Bible publishing company. He was a current member of the Board of Directors of First National Bank of Tennessee which he was instrumental in founding in Livingston more than fifty years ago.

Millard leaves behind his wife of 40 years, J. Annette Oakley, daughters, Melissa Oakley Smith and Kendall Vaughn Smith, nephew, Louis Oakley and wife Cathy, Bill Johnson and wife Tina, Jimmy Johnson and wife Sherida, and Tom Oakley; nieces, Becky Patterson and husband Michael, Cindy Price, Jane Hale and husband Charlie, and Sara Ann Hooper, and husband Johnny Crafton; and several great nieces and nephews.

Memorial donations may be made to the Millard Oakley Public Library, by contacting Speck Funeral Home.

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