Services honoring the life of Mrs. Joyce Annette Oakley, affectionately known as “JJ” will be conducted at 3 p.m., Sunday, December 3, 2023, from the First Christian Church in Livingston.  Rev. James Shenko will officiate.  The family will welcome friends on Sunday from 2 p.m. until the time of services.

JJ passed from this life on Thursday morning, November 30, 2023, from the Vanderbilt Medical Center.  She was born in Middlesboro, Kentucky to the late Robert Lee and Ruth Virginia Thompson Harris.  JJ graduated from West Virginia University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1972.  After many years of teaching nursing, JJ returned to Tennessee and received her Master of Nursing in 1980 as well as a law degree from the University of Tennessee in 1985.  JJ married the late Millard Oakley in 1986 and relocated to their current home in Overton County.

JJ truly believed in the mission of higher education and the importance a student’s college experience can have on their overall success.  JJ and the late Millard Vaughn Oakley were known for their legacy and passion for education and was no stranger to philanthropy. Mrs. Oakley was currently the President of Oakley First National Foundation which provides scholarships to students in need, a member of the American Nursing Association, the Tennessee Bar Association, the Board of Trustees at Livingston Regional Hospital, and recently the Newest Board of Trust for Cumberland University.

JJ leaves behind her granddaughter: Kendall Vaughn Phillips and husband Bailey Phillips of Livingston; and siblings: Greg Harris of West Virginia, and Jackie Jerrome (Sam) of Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Obituary by Speck Funeral Home in Livingston, Tennessee.