Memorial services for former Gov. Don Sundquist to start in West Tennessee

Memorial services for former U.S. Congressman and Tennessee Gov. Don Sundquist will start in Memphis on Thursday, according to county historian Jim Rout.

Sundquist and his wife, Martha Sundquist, moved to Memphis in 1972 and raised their three children in Shelby County. He passed away Sunday in Memphis at Baptist East Memorial Hospital following a surgery and short illness.

The "Celebration of Life" service will be held at Christ Church Memphis, 4488 Poplar Ave. A short visitation will start at 10 a.m. and will be followed with the "Celebration of Life" service at 11 a.m.

Per Sundquist's request, the service will be led by longtime family friend James Latimer, the senior pastor of Redeemer Evangelical Church in Germantown. Kellye Cash-Sheppard, the 1987 Miss America, and Maxine Dunnam, the minister-at-large for Christ Church, will also be participating in the service.

Overflow parking for the service will be available at Oak Court Mall, and Memphis police will be on hand to assist with pedestrian traffic.

Funeral arrangements for Sundquist are not yet finalized, though it is known he will lie in state in the capitol building in Nashville. According to Rout, the former governor will be interred in Townsend, Tennessee, where he and his wife lived for several years.

Micaela Watts is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at micaela.watts@commercialappeal.com.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Services announced for former TN Gov. Don Sundquist start in Memphis