Tom Hensley, a legendary lobbyist and former CEO of the Miss Tennessee Pageant, a prelude to the Miss America Pageant, has passed away.
He was 80 years old.
“Tom and I have been friends practically all of our lives,” said Jimmy Exum, who served as president of the Miss Tennessee Scholarship Pageant, “Tom was the one who got me involved in the pageant … I guess it was 1968.
“The first show I did was in 1972.
“When COVID hit, it was time to take it to the house. It’s been a long journey in a short amount of time.”
According to onthehill.tnjournal.net, Hensley, known as “The Golden Goose,” had been hospitalized in Nashville for two months after sustaining a head injury in a fall. He passed away after being moved to a rehabilitation center in Decaturvillle on Friday.
Hensley began his lobbying career in the 1960s and was a ubiquitous presence at the Capitol complex, wearing his trademark three-piece suit, chomping on a cigar, and sitting in the front row of committee meetings.
Hensley was best known for his work for the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Tennessee, especially during an era when state law allowed him to supply lawmakers with free bottles of alcohol and pick up the tab at restaurants and bars.
Hensley was joined in lobbying the liquor wholesalers association in 2016 by Ryan Haynes, a former lawmaker and onetime state Republican Party chairman.
Arrangements are incomplete – George A. Smith & Sons Funeral Home.
(PHOTO: Tom Hensley, center, visits with former State Representative Jimmy Eldridge, left, and Jimmy Exum at the Carl Perkins Civic Center in August 2018 – file photo WNWS.COM)
