Ned McWherter, who was born the son of a sharecropper  in Palmersville, Tennessee's during the great depression and rose to the rank of governor passed away on April 4.
After a lengthy battle with cancer, McWherter reportedly expired peacefully at Centennial Medical Center in Nashville at 1 p.m.
Born October 15, 1930 to Lucille Golden Smith McWherter and Harmon Ray McWherter, he was a lifetime member of the United Methodist Church, and served for 21 years in the Tennessee National Guard before retiring with the rank of captain.
He was married to the late Bette Jean Beck McWherter and has two children. Son Michael Ray McWherter is a businessman in Dresden and daughter Linda Ramsey is a doctor of physical education at the University of Tennessee at Martin.
The former governor is also survived by his daughter-in-law Mary Jane Wooten McWherter,  two grandchildren, Walker Ray McWherter and Mary Bess McWherter, a stepdaughter, Linda Ramsey and two step grandchildren Matthew Ramsey and Brett Ramsey.
McWherter's life story is in many ways the archetypical American success story.
He was schooled in a one-room building with a wood-burning stove, he bussed tables for the small restaurant his family owned, and began his business career as a traveling shoe salesman.
His first taste of the political arena came while serving as  driver to Congressman Robert “Fats” Everett in the early 1960s.
Through savvy business deals, stock purchases and political alliances McWherter soon became a successful businessman.
 He was just as successful when his career in government officially began in 1968.
McWherter won a seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives, and after just two terms he was elected speaker of the House in a classic nail-biter, defeating incumbent Jim McKinney of Nashville by one vote in the Democratic Caucus and prevailing again by a single vote of the full House. He then held the position longer than anyone in Tennessee history.
He was also the first person ever to serve as speaker of the House right up until the time he assumed the duties of governor.
The new speaker established a reputation as a firebrand immediately, leading an effort to build a medical school in Johnson City over the strenuous opposition of the Republican Governor Winfield Dunn during his first term.
During his tenure with the state legislature, he served on the State Building Commission Joint Fiscal Review Committee, the Council on Pensions and Retirement, the Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial Development Commission and the State Agri-Industries Board.
He was also the chairman of the House Calendar and Rules Committee, the House Finance, Ways, and Means Committee and the House General Welfare Committee.
He was the original sponsor of the "sunshine law" and always adhered to an open door policy with his constituents.
He appointed Ira Murphy of Memphis, the first black committee chairman in the south, and assisted many women into influential roles in the legislature.
Mirroring McWherter's Depression-era values, the state legislature during this period adopted a number of conservative fiscal policies, including the requirement that the issuance of state bonds be accompanied by the first year's debt service and that changes to the state pension fund be approved by a committee comprised of the legislature's fiscal leaders.
His 21st Century Schools education reform program was the template for many similar programs in other states, and his complete replacement of the Medicaid system in Tennessee gained nation wide attention.
 McWherter's answer to the Medicaid problem was TennCare, an ambitious plan intended to lower costs and expand coverage by putting the state's failing Medicaid program in the hands of the private sector.
The program worked well at first, saving more than $2 billion and giving Tennessee the highest percentage of insured citizens in the nation.
Eventually, however, a combination of lawsuits, mismanagement and increasing costs forced succeeding governors to greatly reduce the TennCare programs reach.
McWherter also acquired a reputation for bi-partisan cooperation.
In 1979 he joined Senate Speaker John Wilder in the removal of Democratic Governor Ray Blanton three days before his scandal-ridden term ended amid a furor over the sale of pardons in the prison system.
In 1981 he refused to penalize  Republicans during the redrawing of House and Senate districts.
In 1984 he joined forces with Republican Governor Lamar Alexander to support a sales tax increase and an education package.
McWherter’s service was employed on many national and local councils and committees including the board of governors, Council of State Governments, the Executive Committees of the Southern Conference, the Weakley County Head Start Program and the Executive Committee of the Northwest Tennessee Economic Development District.
He was involved in many civic organizations, with memberships in the Elks Club, Shiners Club, Eagles Club and was a 33rd degree Scottish Rite Mason. He was also a member of the Weakley County Chamber of Commerce, the Tennessee-Arkansas-Mississippi Girl Scout Council Board, and a trustee of the University of Tennessee.
He was a charter member of the Dresden Lions Club and Jaycees, and served as chairman of the Tennessee Heart Association fund raising campaign.
 He was appointed to the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service by President Bill Clinton following Governor McWherter's last term as chief executive of the state in 1995.