Cecil Gordon Massengill

Cecil Gordon Massengill, a lifetime resident of South Knoxville, passed away on April 18, 2026 at age 88. The youngest of six children, he was born September 8, 1937, and he was predeceased by his parents, Frank Britton and Mattie Gertrude Massengill, and by his siblings, Alberta Wilshire, Pauline Connatser, Johnnie Greenwood, Jack Massengill and Herbert Massengill.

He also was predeceased by his wife of 40 years, Robbie Williams Massengill, to whom he was married from 1957 until her death in 1997, and by his wife of 25 years, Carole Hickman Massengill, to whom he was married from 1999 until her death from Lewy Body Dementia in early 2025.

For several decades, Gordon was a fixture in South Knoxville, where he was Manager of White Store #2 on Sevier Avenue. Over the years he employed hundreds of South Knoxville's young people as bagboys, stock clerks and cashiers, many of whom he would run into decades later and reaffirm the nicknames he had given them in their youth, such as Big Lip, Little Bit, Elmo, and Miss Mull. After the White Stores chain was acquired by Food City, he worked at locations throughout East Tennessee in various capacities from front-end manager to butcher and everything in between, mentoring younger employees and teaching them not only about the grocery business, but about work ethic and making sure that the customer was always right.

Gordon also was an accomplished musician who was inspired to take up the trombone as a boy after he saw Jimmy Dorsey perform in the film "A Song Is Born" in 1948. He began training on the instrument as a student at Flenniken Elementary School and came into his own as a musician while attending South High School, where he was voted "Most Talented" during his senior year in 1955. During the intervening seven decades, he played with a number of local and regional combos, dance bands, big bands and orchestras. He was a featured soloist and an especially gifted improviser, a talent and skill that can neither be learned nor taught. He was simply born with it. His fondest memories as a musician were the hundreds of gigs he played with the Martin Brothers, Joe and Jack, at venues like the Senators Club; his extensive work with the Jerry Collins Orchestra, which for many years provided music at Cherokee Country Club; the Red Miller Band, which was a staple at O'Connor Senior Center; David Correll's "Our Little Band," with whom he played some of his best gigs at Everett Senior Center in Maryville; and near the end of his life, with Jeremy Brantley's Old City Buskers, with whom Gordon played his final gig in 2025. Generations of musicians and audiences enjoyed his performing ability, his dynamic personality, and his encyclopedic knowledge of big band tunes, the Great American Songbook, and Dixieland music.

He was of the Christian faith and attended several churches during his lifetime, beginning with Immanuel Baptist Church during his youth when his family lived on Ellen Street in Vestal, and South Knoxville Baptist Church during the early years of his first marriage. He later attended Second United Methodist Church, where his children were active in choir and youth activities and where Robbie sang in the choir, and during his second marriage, he and Carole were active members of Kodak United Methodist Church, where Carole played piano and organ, and where Gordon occasionally joined music programs with his trombone. In the later years of their marriage, and closer to their home, Gordon and Carole joined Beulah United Methodist Church.

Although music was his lifetime passion, the stages of Gordon's life were marked by numerous other activities he enjoyed when not working. He loved to travel and talk with the folks he met in all but two of the contiguous 48 states during his excursions across the country with both Robbie and Carole. With the boys and men he encountered, he was likely to present them with a pocketknife, as he always carried several for just such occasions. With the ladies, he was likely to end the conversation with the entreaty, "Don't dip snuff." He was a prolific storyteller, often asking, "Did I tell you about....?" before launching into something that happened at the store, or on a gig, or someplace he had visited.

He is survived by his son and daughter, Reed Massengill and Leslie Cutshaw (Jeff); his stepson Scott Hickman (Rusty); his granddaughters Charley Bailey (Adam) and Alexandria Hickman (Hannah); his great-grandsons Braven Bailey and Forrest Bailey; and numerous and much-loved nieces and nephews. The family would like to thank the caring staff members at Freedom Senior Living, LeConte Medical Center and Covenant Hospice for their support and for the special work they do.

An informal and joyous celebration of Gordon's life will be held from 3-5 p.m. on Sunday, April 26th at South Knoxville Community Center, 522 Maryville Pike, 37920. Any gifts in his memory should be directed to the two charitable organizations Gordon supported, The Joy of Music School in Knoxville and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis.