Mr. Ted Stevens Carmack, age 82, of Florence, died Saturday, March 20, 2004, at Mitchell-Hollingsworth after an extended illness.He was a native of Tupelo, Miss., and had lived most of his life in Florence.Ted first arrived in Florence in the early 1950s as a Farm Bureau insurance agent.Not long afterwards, he purchased the Blackwell Agency and relocated his family here.Later, he and a partner, L.L. Whitten, formed an insurance and real estate development firm called C&W Insurance in the 1960s.Ted sold out of the insurance business in the mid-1970s and bought an office coffee service business named Coffee Break.His son joined the business full time after college, and together they developed Coffee Break into CBS Vending. This company was later sold to Buffalo Rock Inc., where Ted worked for a short time before retiring in 1993.He was a World War II veteran, had been an active member in Civitan, elder emeritus of the First Christian Church and was also a Mason and received his 50-year pen.During his active years, he enjoyed golfing and fishing.Visitation will be today, March 21, 2004, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Greenview Funeral Home.The funeral service will be Monday, March 22, 2004, at 3 p.m. from Greenview Memorial Chapel, with burial to follow in Greenview Memorial Park.Officiating at the service will be Dr. Carl Gebhardt and Dr. Robert Stegall.Mr. Carmack was preceded in death by his parents, Fred Lester Carmack and Mary Hanna Stevens Carmack, and brother, Fred Carmack, all of Tupelo, Miss.He is survived by his wife of 22 years, Mary Lankford Carmack, of Florence; son, Steve Carmack and wife, Kim, of Florence; stepson, David Clark and wife, Rea Ellen, of Killen; stepdaughter, Jan McCarley and husband, Tony, of Center Star; granddaughters, Heather Fowler, of Florence, Jessica Jordan, of Killen, Lindsay and Hope McCarley, of Center Star; one sister, Dale Clift and husband, Jess, of Tupelo; and a niece, Christy Traughber, and husband, Ed, and son, Lee, of Oakland, Ala.Pallbearers will be Tim Pounders, Dennis Brashier, Freddy Killen, Mike Swinney, Ricky Nerstad and Jerry W. Duke.Honorary pallbearers will include Tony McCarley, Ed Traughber and the men's Bible class of First Christian Church.Memorials may be made to the First Christian Church of Florence.Special thanks to the staff at Mitchell-Hollingsworth, Gambro Healthcare and ECM Hospital.Greenview Funeral Home, of Florence, is directing..
Published in Florence Times Daily on March 21, 2004