CPO David Walker Hammersley

Posted: Thursday, January 3, 2013 4:00 pm

The Messenger, January 3, 2013
CPO David Walker Hammersley (U.S. Navy, retired), 75, of Dyersburg went to be with the Lord Jan. 1, 2013. He suffered from Alzheimers and died from complications of the disease at Tennessee Veterans Home in Humboldt.
Services will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Johnson-Williams Funeral Home in Newbern, with the Rev. Billy Criswell officiating. Interment will follow in Rehoboth Cemetery.
Visitation will be Friday from 5-8 p.m. at the funeral home.
Pallbearers will be family and friends.
The family requests that memorials be made to the Wounded Warriors program, veterans’ programs, the Lions Club or the Shriners Foundation.
He was born Dec. 13, 1937, in Providence, R.I., son of the late Mary Alexandria (McManus) of Providence and Pearl Snead Hammersley of Lynchburg, Va. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Judith Ann McCauley of Providence, and is survived by his second wife, Dessie F. “Dee” Gaskins Hammersley of Dyersburg.
He was a career military officer in the U.S. Navy, having served in Vietnam from 1963-66 and retiring in 1986.
He was a longtime member of the Fraternal Order of Masons, including the Scottish Rite and the Blue Lodge, the Shriners and Order of Eastern Star and was also a member of the Lions Club and other organizations.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by three daughters and two sons-in-law, Susan Knight and John Andrews of Union City, Alexandra Joan and Don Murray of Adrian, Mich., and Karen Gaskins of Dyersburg; four sons and his daughter-in-law, Daniel Walker Hammersley of Weiner, Alaska, Jonathan Andrew and Tara Hammersley of Huntingburg, Ind., Charles V. Gaskins of Dyersburg and Gregory Gaskins of Newbern; his grandchildren and their spouses, Elizabeth Hammersley of Union City, Amanda and Brad Carr of Obion, Andrea Ryan and Bradon Anthony Wilcox of Charlotte, Mich., Brianna Nicole and Tyler Pratt of East Lansing, Mich., John Hammersley, Josephine Hammersley and Owyn Hammersley, all of Austin, Alaska, Austin Gaskins of Newbern, Wade Gaskins of Kentucky and Brian Gaskins and Blake Ellis, both of Dyersburg; his great-grandchildren, Madeline Killion, Angelina Killion, Drake Anthony Ryan Wilcox and Kevin Maxwell Pratt of Memphis,  David Jerome Hankins and Evelyn Hankins; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
He was preceded in death by his parents, five brothers, Pvt. Robert Randolph Hammersley and Pvt. William Richard Hammersley, both of the U.S. Army, Earl Edward Hammersley, Pvt. Donald Stuart Hammersley and Richard Campbell Hammersley, all of New England; his sister, Barbara Joan Hammersley-DuVall of Vermont; his son, Dennis Gaskins of Memphis; and his grandchild, Katelynn Marie Hammersley of Hintingburg, Ind.
Friends may sign online condolences at www.johnson-williamsfuneralhome.com.