Ernest Duff, the founder of Southern Tire Mart, died on May 27, 2016, in Hattiesburg, Miss. He was 84.
Duff began a career as an attorney after graduating from the University of Mississippi’s Law School. While serving as an attorney for Georgia Pacific in Columbia, Miss., he formed Forest Products Transports to haul wood chips for his employer.
To supply tires for his company’s trucks, he founded Southern Tire Mart in 1973. Today Southern Tire Mart holds the top spot in Modern Tire Dealer’s Top Commercial Tire Dealers in the U.S. ranking with 68 service centers and 17 retread shops.
He is survived by his wife, Bobbie Baggett Duff, sons Tom, Jim, and Stephen, daughter, Jane, seven grandchildren, and six great grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers the family has requested donations be sent to: Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, P.O. Box 97151 Washington, D.C. 20090-7151, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, P.O. Box 96305, Washington, D.C. 20090-6305.
To read his obituary, click here.
