Ira Van Colvin, 73

McMinnville resident and Lauderdale County native Ira Van Colvin, 73, was born Dec. 9, 1937 and died May 25 at Alive Hospice at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville. 
A farmer and brick mason, he was an Eagle Scout and high school athlete. He graduated Ripley High School and attend McNeese State University in Louisiana where he played scholarship football and boxed. He attended Memphis State University where he studied Civil Engineering. From 1961-64 he worked as a civil servant surveying missile sites for the U.S. Department of Defense. After 1964, he settled in his hometown of Ripley. He moved to McMinnville in the 1990s and raised his youngest children. He was know locally as the “Tomato Man.”
He was the son of the late George Decatur and Ruby Columbus Carroll Colvin. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by one sister, Dorothy Fine and grandson, Alan Colvin.  He is survived by eight children and their spouses, Darlene and Don Smith and Marty and Angelic Colvin, all of Savannah, Ga.; Yancy and Shirley Colvin of Macon, Ga., Vicki and Mike Worley of Knoxville, Tina and Jeff Hook and Allison Colvin, all of Statesboro, Ga., and Crystal and Chris Hillis and Colin Knight, all of McMinnville; 14 grandchildren; three brothers, Don Colvin of Memphis, Joe and Sidney Colvin of Warner Robbins, Ga., and Carl and Trudy Colvin of Louisville, Ky.; sister, Jane and Ron Webb of Knoxville; sister-in-law, Ellen Colvin of Memphis and several nieces and nephews. 
Funeral service will be held at 3 p.m. today in High’s Chapel with Jerry Smith officiating. Burial will follow at Smyrna Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 2 to 3 p.m. today at High’s. Memorial contributions may be made to Alive Hospice, 1718 Patterson Street, Nashville, 37203 or Vanderbilt University Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care, 1211 21st Avenue South, Nashville, 37212.
High Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Southern Standard
(McMinnville, Tenn.) May 27, 2011