SMITHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A longtime Smithville restaurant owner and former law enforcement officer is being remembered for his generosity and decades of service to the community after his unexpected death.
Jeff Cawthorn died Monday at 59. For the past six years, he and his wife, Jeania Cawthorn, owned The Lip Stick Pig BBQ in Smithville.
A black ribbon now hangs outside the restaurant, which is usually bustling with customers. “I wish he would’ve known how much love the community would show,” Jeania Cawthorn said.
She said she has been overwhelmed by messages and stories from people whose lives her husband touched. “I’m reading them and I’m like, wow,” she said. “I knew I loved him and he was a lovable guy, but I didn’t know how many people loved him.”
For the Cawthorns, serving food was about more than running a business. Jeania said Jeff regularly helped feed people who could not afford a meal and even learned what some of them liked to eat.
The couple was also planning to feed members of the sheriff’s department on Labor Day.
Jeania said their desire to help people struggling with hunger was personal.
“As a child growing up, there were times I was hungry, and [I] told him that was my mission — for us to keep people from being hungry,” she said. “So he took that mission to his heart, and he made it happen.”
Jeff Cawthorn's service to the community began long before the restaurant. He spent about 30 years working in law enforcement and investigations. Jeania recalled meeting people who remembered her husband from his time working with young people through the DARE program.
“They would hug Jeff and thank him, and I’d say, ‘What’s that about?’” she said. “And he’d say, ‘They were in my DARE program,’ or ‘I did this or that for them.’”
Michael Saylors, who works next door to the restaurant, said Cawthorn's death was a loss for the entire community.
“You’re losing a good businessman, but you’re also losing a good friend and neighbor,” Saylors said.
For Jeania, the future of The Lip Stick Pig BBQ remains uncertain. She said she may reopen the restaurant in the future, but for now, she is leaning on the community that has shown her family so much support.
“It’s going to be hard, but I’m strong and I’ve got a lot of love in this community,” she said.
Cawthorn's funeral service will be held Friday at DeKalb Funeral Chapel.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Every night, Forrest Sanders brings us stories showcasing the best of humanity. This story profiles, perhaps, Tennessee's most eccentric resident who made an impact on an aspiring journalist. I'm always in awe of Forrest's storytelling; I truly appreciated his vulnerability with this one.
- Carrie Sharp
