Tim Spires, president and CEO of the Tennessee Association of Manufacturers and the Chattanooga Regional Manufacturers Association, died Sunday of an apparent heart attack while hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
"It's beyond shocking and sad," said Annie White, who shared office space with Spires in the EPB building in downtown Chattanooga.
To pay your respects
Send a message of condolence and view the Spires’ family guestbook at www.ralphbuckner.com. A celebration of life service will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22, at First Baptist Church at 1275 Stuart Rd NE, Cleveland, Tenn., with Pastor Steve Morgan and Pastor Jim Gibson officiating. The family will receive friends from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday at the church prior to the service.
Spires, 57, was an avid marathon runner, she said, and a hiker who hoped someday to complete the entire Appalachian Trail.
"He just wanted to do 12 miles [Sunday] or something like that. Which in his mind was an easy hike. Tim was in excellent health," said White, who's the regional project manager for Pathways to Prosperity of Southeast Tennessee, which helps place area high school students in internships with local manufacturers.
"Tim was one of the most tireless - yet energetic - individuals that I have known," said Bill Kilbride, president and CEO of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce. "With a relatively small staff, he was totally dedicated to the manufacturing sector."
Spires lived in Cleveland, where he served as a deacon and choir member in the First Baptist Church, according to an obituary on the Ralph Buckner Funeral Home and Crematory website.
Spires was very active in the Boy Scouts of America, was a Scout Master for Troop 10, and served as the former chairman of the board for the Cherokee area council and the current BSA Area Six president. He was active in the United Way of Bradley County serving as chair of the impact committee. Spires was past president of the Cleveland Rotary Club and president of the Cleveland and Chattanooga Metropolitan YMCA.
He held a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Cincinnati and an MBA from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Spires served on the faculty of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, College of Business Administration.
Spires is survived by his wife, Cindy Spires of Cleveland; children: Ben Spires of Knoxville, and Lindsay Spires of Kathleen, Ga. Spires' son is doing his residency as an obstetrician and gynecologist and his daughter is an endoscopy nurse, White said.
Megan King, operations director for the Tennessee Association of Manufacturers, is working closely with the association's executive committee to find a replacement for Spires, White said.
"There's one thing for certain is that Tim would not want us to miss a beat," White said. "He would be definitely telling us to dust ourselves off and move ahead."
Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/MeetsForBusiness or on Twitter @meetforbusiness or 423-757-6651.