Kenneth "Chigger" Underhill

Kenneth Ray “Chigger” Underhill

Kenneth, or Chigger as most people knew him, was the son of Alberta and Cecil Underhill and born on August 15, 1944. He died at his home on Dec 1, 2021.

Chigger (Kenny to his immediate family.) grew up in the Wrigley/Lyles area in the East end of Hickman County.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Jeanette Tidwell Underhill; daughter, Angie Adams; granddaughter, Maggie Adams; sisters Joyce Carroll and Mary Davidson; he was preceded in death by his parents and siblings James, Bobby, and Ricky Underhill.

Chigger had a long career delivering bread for Colonial Baking Company where he was a proud member of the Teamsters Union and was integral in many labor contract negotiations. Where he thrived was as a real estate developer in the East end of Hickman County once he retired from Colonial. Along with several close friends as business partners, he purchased large family farms, cleared the land by hand, and created new housing developments with mature trees and beautiful settings.

Having never finished high school didn’t stop Chigger from trusting his business acumen. Nothing gave him more joy than making a buck, but he was always fair and ready to help a family with an accessible loan when they couldn’t get an affordable loan from a bank.

Having run for many elected offices, he was a proud to serve as a Hickman County Road Commissioner.

Chigger was a long-time member of Skyview Country Club where he was a regular on the golf course. Fishing for crappie on the Tennessee River was his other favorite pastime.

Until his final days, eating was one of his greatest pleasures. He often shared that there are two types of people – ones who eat to live and ones who live to eat. He was proud to be in the second category and spent many hours planning his next meal and sharing great details about his recent favorite ones.

Immense thanks goes out from the family to Chigger’s dear friend Sissy Ring for being his ultimate right hand assistant; neighbors Becky and Steve for embracing his gruffness and his quirks; David Lavy for being a dear friend and trusted business partner; and the whole Hickman County community for often making him feel like an unofficial county mayor.

In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made in his honor to Helping Hands of Hickman County, which was a favorite place of his and his wife’s for many years.

Visitation will be Saturday, December 11, 2021 12:30pm – 2:30pm with a Celebration of Life at 2:30pm and burial to follow all at Harpeth Hills Funeral Home.