David E. Uren

David "Dave" Eugene Uren, 81, of Hixson, TN passed away on Saturday, November 1, 2025 in a local healthcare facility.
He was preceded in death by his high school sweetheart and beloved wife of 59 years, Linda Johnson Uren; daughter, Christy Lee Uren, his father and mother, Eugene E. and Bertha Varner Uren; and his brother, Kenneth Uren.
He is survived by his sister-in-law, Myra Uren, niece, Jeannie Uren Stewart; nephew, Douglas Uren, special cousins, Phyllis Wilson and Becky Uren Burchard; other cousins he had grown up with; and by grandnieces and grandnephews.
He was a loving husband and father and a generous person. He modeled his life after a poem he wrote in high school titled, "To Live By". He was an active member of his churches and worshipped a living Savior. He enjoyed fellowshipping with Christian Men's Groups and in participating in small groups Bible studies.
He enjoyed numerous outdoor activities, and he especially enjoyed living in his own version of Thoreau's Walden for several years in a recreational log home he built on a wooded lake lot near the Smoky Mountains. He was an avid collector and operator of O-Gauge Toy Trains. His wall to wall final toy train layout included multiple buildings and track-side accessories depicting some of his life experiences.
He traveled internationally in his work as a senior financial executive. In 1993 he was part of a delegation of CPA's in Industry sponsored by the People-to-People program who spent two weeks in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia, assisting Russian government, business and educational leaders in understanding how capitalism functions in the United States of America as they sought help in improving their economy following the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.) on December 31, 1991.
While in Moscow he lectured and met with college business students, many of whom were the grandsons and granddaughters of the Cold War leaders of the U.S.S.R., including the grandson of Yuri Andropov, once head of the U.S.S.R.
Dave joined the Gerber Products Company in Boston mid-way through his corporate career and was instrumental in consolidating four Gerber subsidiary apparel companies to form Gerber Childrenswear. He later participated in a Leveraged Buyout of Gerber Childrenswear from the Gerber baby food company and became one of its three principle individuals owners. He was then instrumental in the company becoming a stand-alone multinational public corporation on the New York Stock Exchange.
He retired from Gerber Childrenswear, Inc. as Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer after seventeen years of service. He also served on the boards of directors of affiliated companies in nine countries. Before his 34 years as a senior financial executive in multinational private and public companies, he practiced as a Certified Public Accountant with the accounting firm of Ernst & Ernst (today, Ernst & Young, LLP).
He graduated from the University of Chattanooga in 1967 (today, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga) with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration as an accounting major. He was a graduate of Soddy-Daisy High School and he was inducted into its Alumni Hall of Fame.
Upon retirement, he returned to Chattanooga and served as a volunteer small business mentor with SCORE, the Service Corps of Retired Executives, supported by the U.S. Small Business Administration for thirteen years.
Over the course of his life, he was active in several professional, civic and service organizations, including the Chattanooga Jaycees, Big Brothers Big Sisters Association, Junior Achievement, Kiwanis Club, United Way and the National Association of Mental Illness. He held life membership in Financial Executives International and was a past president of the Chattanooga Chapter.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Tuesday, November 4, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. in the funeral home chapel with the Rev. Jim Evans and Rev. Alan Stewart officiating. Interment will follow in Hamilton Memorial Gardens.
The family will receive friends from 11:00 am until the time of the service on Tuesday at the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made in David's name to the charity of your choice.
Arrangements are by Legacy Funeral Home and Cremation Center, 8911 Dallas Hollow Road, Soddy-Daisy, TN 37379. (423) 843-2525. To share memories, photos or condolences, please visit www.legacyfuneralhome.com. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of David E. Uren, please visit our floral store.