Terry Winston Pope

Terry Winston Pope passed away at 5:25pm on Saturday, July 29, 2023, at the Saint Thomas West hospital at the age of 88 while Paul was reading for him – his favorite hobby!  He lived a long and full life, and saw much of the earth and modern human history. Terry was born in Old Hickory on November 11, 1934, which is Veterans Day. He always claimed that his family was descended from Welsh ancestry. He was the father of three children, Teresa, Robert & Paul. He and his wife Hilda met on a bus in Malaga, Spain, in 1972 while on a layover and were married for 42 years.  Both of them were working for Pan American World Airways ("Pan Am"), Terry as a pilot and Hilda as a flight attendant.

His parents are Roger Welch Pope and Grace Thomas Pope, now deceased. His father worked for DuPont chemical in Old Hickory, Tennessee, a company town.  He was the eldest of three boys and grew up in Madison, Tennessee. Terry went on to study architecture for a time at Auburn University. He later joined the U.S. Air Force in August 1956, after he was called to service, graduating from flight school training in South Georgia, February 1958. He spent most of this time in France at a U.S. air base. He flew missions around Europe and North Africa in the post-WWII era. He flew the C-119, known as the “Flying Boxcar,” as a transport pilot. His last Air Force Base while on active duty was Kessler AFB in Biloxi, Mississippi. 

He then attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, earning a degree in Civil Engineering and working for TVA while at UT. He married Shirley Harper (now deceased) of Chattanooga, while they were both students. His first child, Teresa Lynn Pope, was born in 1960 and Robert Howard Pope in 1966. Terry then took a position with the state of California as an engineer designing dams and reservoirs. While living in Sacramento, CA, he joined the Air Force Reserve, once again as a pilot flying the C-119 out of McClellan AFB. Part of his duties at the time included flying empty caskets to Vietnam and bringing back full ones. He was honorably discharged from the Air Force and took a commercial pilot role at Pan Am, flying out of San Francisco, Miami, and finally New York City. He also moved the family to Asheville, NC; Miami, FL; and Atlanta, GA.

Terry and Hilda were married and lived in New York, then relocated to Nashville after Paul (their only son) was born in 1983, while continuing to fly out of New York to many international destinations. Hilda grew up in Beirut, Lebanon, before moving to the U.S. They both traveled to many countries in Europe (both east and west), the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, and Asia while working at Pan Am. They bought a house in the Richland-West End neighborhood of Nashville in 1982 and have lived there ever since. After Pan Am ceased operations in 1991, Terry went on to work for United Airlines. He loved books, history, woodworking, architecture and civil engineering, aviation, his time in France, his travels abroad, and his family. He retired in 1998 from United and continued to live in Nashville until his passing.

He is survived by his wife Hilda, his brothers, Alan (his children Jeremy and Diana); Roger, (his children Ian and Sierra); Teresa, Robert, and Paul; as well as three grandchildren, Duncan, Morgan, and Zeneca.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donation be made to the Parkinson Foundation in Terry's honor.

www.parkinsonsfoundation.org

(800)473-4636