Former Knoxville Mayor Randy Tyree Dies at 85 - Articles

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Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Nov 26, 2025

Tennessee lawyer and former Knoxville Mayor Randy Tyree died Nov. 24 at the age of 85. A graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and the University of Tennessee (now Winston) College of Law, Tyree first worked for the FBI in Washington and Puerto Rico. He later served as a patrolman and detective in the Knoxville Police Department, as the city's police and fire commissioner, as an attorney with Egerton, Armistead, Davis & McCord and then Morrison, Morrison, Tyree & Morrow and finally as mayor. During his time in the mayor’s office — from 1976-1984 — he brought the World's Fair to Knoxville. He ran for governor in 1982, but lost to then-incumbent Gov. Lamar Alexander. Knox News looks at his legacy.