Don Sundquist

Governor Sundquist served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 1995 and served as Governor of Tennessee from 1995 to 2003. In 2005, he was named head of a national panel on improving Medicaid. Twice elected governor of Tennessee and earlier served 12 years in the US House of Representatives, died on Sunday August 27 2023 in Memphis. He was 87. Before serving in Congress, he founded Graphic Sales of America Corp. of Memphis, a printing and advertising company. He also put together investors to establish a bank in Germantown Tennessee and later joined with others in opening a Memphis-style barbecue restaurant in Arlington, Va. After graduating in 1957, he served two years in the Navy. He then went to work for Jostens Inc., a scholastic products company in Shelbyville, where he rose to division manager before moving to become partner and president of Graphic Sales. He was national chairman of the Young Republican National Federation from 1971 to 1973 and spent almost 20 years doing grass roots work for the G.O.P. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, the former first lady Martha Sundquist; their children, Andrea, Tania and Deke; and two granddaughters