The Rev. Joseph M. Gammon ’40

The Rev. Joseph M. Gammon ’40, former U.S. Navy chaplain of Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, died on August 27 in Knoxville, Tenn. A member of First Families of Tennessee, Rev. Gammon was born in Lavras, Minas-Gerais, Brazil in 1918, on the campus of Instituto Presbiteriano Gammon, the school founded by his missionary parents, Samuel Rhea Gammon and Clara Moore Gammon. A 1940 graduate of Davidson College, he was a veteran, serving in the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps in the Pacific Theater of World War II and in the Korean War. He spent many years in the Naval Reserves, retiring at the rank of Commander in 1975. He was ordained as a Presbyterian minister on July 31, 1949, after graduating from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va. After serving pastorates in Morgan City, La.; Madison, Fla.; and Lake City, S.C., he was chaplain at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center from 1965 to 1986. The Joseph M. Gammon Series on Ministry was established in 1981 in his honor. In October 2006, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Brazil’s Instituto Presbiteriano Gammon. Following his retirement, Gammon served interim pastorates at First Presbyterian Church in Etowah, Tenn., and at First Presbyterian Church in Knoxville. He worshipped at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Knoxville. He is survived by his wife of sixty-two years, Vivian Isabel Iverson Gammon, 7531 Turnbrook Way, Apt. 115, Knoxville, Tenn. 37919; daughter, Vivian Genet Gammon Weber (David); son, Daniel Iverson Gammon (Sandy); daughter, Lalla Gammon Phillips (John); grandchildren, Jacob R. Potts (Jessica); Anna Gammon Jarvis (Greg); Luke Gammon Weber (Ashlie Bitner); Hannah Gammon Disney (Matt); Rachael Erin Gammon; John Alexander Phillips; and Forrest Christopher Phillips; and great-grandchildren, Joseph Daniel Jarvis and Madelyn Elizabeth Jarvis. He was preceded in death by his son, Joseph Moore Gammon, Jr; sisters, Alicia Gennet Coriolano and Billie Gammon; and brothers, Audley Anderson Gammon ’35 and the Rev. Richard Rhea Gammon ’40.