Jack E. Lay
This encyclopedia article is about a living person.
Jack E. Lay is a businessman and former mayor of the Town of Oneida who served in that capacity from 1995 to 2023.
See Also: Mayors of Oneida
Preceded By: Denzil Pennington • Succeeded By: Lori Phillips-Jones
Early Life
Born Sept. 29, 1943, Lay is the son of Ben Opal Lay and Doris Laxton Lay Thompson.
Lay’s father was killed in action in World War II, when his ship, the USS Halligan, sank in a mine attack in the Pacific Ocean on March 26, 1945. Ben Lay was manning a five-inch gun in the upper handling room of the ship when the explosion occurred. He was scheduled for a promotion five days later.
Lay’s maternal grandfather was Scott County Sheriff Esau Laxton.
Lay married Sharon Baldwin, the daughter of Hubert Baldwin (1917-2020) and Alma Pennington Baldwin (1921-2005). They have five children.
Lay graduated from Oneida High School, and later from Carson-Newman College.
Professional Life
Prior to being elected Oneida’s mayor, Lay was an executive in the West Coal Company, based in Oneida. The company was founded by his father-in-law, Hubert Baldwin, and brother-in-law, Roger West. At one point in the 1980s it was the largest coal producer in Tennessee, with nearly 1,000 employees.
Lay is a past president of the Oneida Lions Club, and a past member of the Plateau Electric Cooperative Board of Directors and the Scott County Fair Board. He also served on the Children’s Center of the Cumberlands Board of Directors and was a member of the Oneida Water Board.
Oneida Mayor
Lay was first elected Oneida mayor in 1995. It was a time of turmoil for the town, with Denzil Pennington having resigned abruptly nearly a year earlier. Lay was elected by a large margin from a field of six candidates that also included Robby Carson, the son of former mayor Bob Carson; Sharon Miller; George D. Pemberton Jr.; J.C. Reynolds; and Richard B. “Dick” Smith.
Lay received nearly twice as many votes as his nearest competitor. He was subsequently re-elected in 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019, becoming the longest-tenured mayor in Oneida’s history.
Lay’s 28-year tenure in office is perhaps best remembered for advancements in recreation. Oneida City Park was expanded, with a walking track and stage added; the gymnasium at City Park was renovated; a sports complex was built on reclaimed strip mine land at Bear Creek on the north end of town, including two soccer fields, two baseball fields, a softball field and a t-ball field; and the town purchased the nine-hole golf course at Ponderosa Estates.
It was during Lay’s tenure that the Oneida Water Board was dissolved and those powers assumed by the town’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
The gymnasium at Oneida City Park and the sports complex at Bear Creek are both named in Lay’s honor.