Richard Mathes Fenker

     Richard Mathes Fenker was born on 8 Oct 1910 in 264 Hosea Ave., Cincinnati, Hamilton Co., Ohio.^4,8,9 He married Martha Watson Cobb, daughter of Dr. Robert Linah Cobb Jr. and Mary Louisa Logan, on 12 Aug 1938 in Nashville, Tennessee, Friday, August 12, 1939 at 3:00 P.M. at 1920 20th Ave. South in the presence of the immediate families and a few intimate friends. The ceremony was performed by the bride's uncle, Rev. William H. McIntosh, of Hatiesburg, Mississippi.^10,11,12 He died on 2 Jun 1999 in Fort Worth, Tarrant Co., Texas, at age 88.¹³
     He moved about 1919 to Minneola, Florida, with his parents.^14,15 He appeared on the 1920 Federal Census of Clermont, Lake Co., Florida, in the household of his parents, Howard Wieman Fenker and Irma Aurelia Sander.⁵ He graduated from Peabody Demonstration School, Nashville, Tennessee, in 1928.^16,17 He appeared on the 1930 Federal Census of Nashville, Davidson Co., Tennessee, in the household of his parents, Howard Wieman Fenker and Irma Aurelia Sander.⁶ He graduated from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, in 1934, after attending the University of North Carolina for 3 years and then one year at Vanderbilt.¹⁶
     He was employed by Life & Casualty Insurance Company until he joined the Navy in 1943.¹⁶ He became an Aerial Navigator, serving 3 years with Naval Air Transport Service in both the Atlantic and Pacific. His last duties were flying casualties out of Okinawa and POWs from Japan. He was discharged as a Lt. Commander.¹⁶ He and Martha Watson Cobb were living in 701 No. Ocean Dr., Hollywood, Florida, in Sep 1943.¹⁸
     After the war he was loaned by National Life to American Life Convention, a trade association of life insurance companies with head office in Chicago. In 1947 he became Actuary for the Insurance Department of Tennessee, and served as Actuary for Mississippi in 1948. He later became actuary for Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company of Columbia South Carolina. In 1951 he moved to Gallatin to manage Rail Oil Company, a business established by his father. It was a distributor of Shell Oil Products in Macon, Sumner and Trousdale Counties. He eventually bought the entire business, which was sold in 1976 when he retired from active business.¹⁶
     He was elected to city council in Gallatin, Tennessee in 1969, and reelected in 1973 and 1977. While there, he served as Chairman of the Finance Committee from 1970 until the end of his term, and was Appointed to Power Board in 1970, later becoming it's chairman. He was elected by the city council to one of Gallatin's memberships on the Resource Authority (which built and operated a waste fired thermal plant), and reelected to a six year term 1981. In 1974 he was appointed to the planning commission.¹⁶ He was a member of the Gallatin Rotary Club, the VFW, American Legion Post 17, the Gallatin Quarterback Club, the Vanderbilt Commodore Club, the American Academy of Actuaries, and a charter member of the Southeastern Actuaries Club.¹⁶