Obit – Mr. Bobby (Buck) King
Mr. Bobby (Buck) King departed this life at 5:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon April 11, 2026 at the Quality Center for Rehabilitation and Healing in Lebanon where he had resided since August 9, 2024. Mr. King was 86.
Mr. King was at the Carthage Chapel of Sanderson Funeral Home where funeral services were conducted Thursday afternoon April 16th at 1 p.m. Edward L. Anderson and Rev. Wilkie Winfree officiated. Burial followed in the King family lot in the Garden of the Cross at the Smith County Memorial Gardens.
He was born Bobby Gene King in the Elmwood Community on February 11, 1940 and was one of eight children, five sons and three daughters of the late Rev. Benton Driver (Ben) King who died at the age of 50 on March 31, 1959 and Agnes Christine Brown King who died at the age of 80 on May 20, 1995.
All four of his brothers preceded him in death, an infant brother who died at birth and a brother that died at the age of 14 and by Sammy King who died in a house fire at his Pea Ridge Community farm home on August 8, 1997 at the age of 40 and Phillip Anthony King who died June 4, 2005 at the age of 59 and by two sisters, Mattie Lucy King Smith who died August 2, 2018 at the age of 80 and Patsy Lee King Link who died January 23, 2021 at the age of 71.
Mr. King was the husband of the late Bethpage Community native, the former Lola Mai Malone King who preceded him in death on October 11, 2024 at the age of 77.
The King family were saddened by the loss of one of their three sons, Robert Quinton “Nugie” King, who died suddenly on November 3, 1993 at the age of 27 in Frankfurt, Germany following his military service. He was transported home to his native Carthage for funeral services and burial. Nugie was a member of the 1985 graduating class at the Smith County High School where he was an outstanding running back for the Owls.
He was also preceded in death by brothers-in-law, John Roy Carter and Eli Jordan Smith Sr. who died at the age of 70 on December 29, 2002.
Mr. King was the valedictorian of his graduating class at the former Turner High School.
Following graduation, he also served our country as a peacetime veteran with the United States Army.
Mr. King was formerly employed at the Hartsville T. V. A. Nuclear Plant Project and later at the Avco Corporation in Nashville.
He will perhaps best be remembered as a seller of fruits and vegetables on Dixon Springs Highway in Carthage.
Mr. King was a man of honor, friendly to all he met and the example of a great father to his three sons and a devoted husband to his wife.
Being reared in the Elmwood Community, he attended the Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church.
He was a gentleman who loved to be outside and especially on the Cumberland River or Cordell Hull Lake fishing.
Surviving are his two sons, Dr. Eric King of Nashville and Barry King of Antioch; five grandchildren, Korrey King and wife Dani of Japan, Alisha Weitzel of Burbank, California, Kimberlea Bush Strong and husband David of Baxter, Kaleb Bush and wife Lauren Crockett Bush of the Difficult Community, Jasmine King of Antioch; sister, Janie King Carter of Watertown; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Ben Malone of Antioch, Dorthy J. Corley of Gallatin, Caroline Sales and husband John of Nashville; many nephews, nieces, great-nephews and great-nieces and a multitude of acquaintances and other family members.
SANDERSON of CARTHAGE
