Hershel S. Colley

Hershel Sumpter Colley, 78, of Georgetown, passed away Thursday, December 28, 2017 at his home.  He graduated from Charleston High School where he played on the basketball team. Hershel previously owned and operated Colley Radiator Shop in Cleveland.  He served six years in the National Guard, where he rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant and was awarded the Marksmanship Badge Rifle.  He was an avid boater who won many boating awards, including the 1960 National Outboard Pleasure Craft Championship.  He also won numerous awards during his participation in drag strip auto racing.

Hershel enjoyed playing and singing country and bluegrass music and he hosted music jams in his home for friends and family.  He was an enthusiastic spectator of basketball and football throughout his life and often attended local high school games and followed college football, especially the UT Volunteers.  During his retirement, he was known to his friends as a master mechanic who could repair a wide variety of equipment, most of which he repaired for free.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Sumpter and Sara Colley; sisters, Veheda Ledford, Mildred Drake, and Mary Frances York; brother in-law, Ralph York, and infant son, Jimmy Aaron Colley.

He is survived by one nephew Roger L. York, of Cleveland; two nieces and their husbands, Sandra York Benton and husband, David, and Teresa Ledford Stephenson and husband, Jerry, all of Cleveland; brother-in-law, Alphus Ledford; great nephew, Brian Woody and wife, Ashlea Woody and one great-great niece, Riley Woody, all of Cleveland.  He is also survived by a large number of new and long-term friends.

Funeral services will be conducted at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, January 1, 2018 in the chapel of Ralph Buckner Funeral Home with the Reverend Guinn Green officiating. Interment will follow in Fort Hill Cemetery with Leon Ledford, Crawford Burns, Jr., Lamar Harden, T.A. Hicks, David Ledford and Justin Ledford serving as pallbearers.   Jimmy Evans, Buddy Hicks, and Brian Woody will serve as honorary pallbearers.

His family will receive friends from 4:00 – 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 31, 2017 at the funeral home. 

We invite you to send a message of condolence and view the Colley family guestbook at www.ralphbuckner.com.