Bill Baxter, 'tireless' Knoxville servant who led family's Holston Gases, dies at 71

Bill Baxter, the charismatic Knoxville philanthropist and ubiquitous board member who led at every level of private and public life in Tennessee, died Aug. 18 at 71.

Baxter served as chairman of Holston Gases , his family's business. The cause of death was a "relatively short battle with an aggressive form of cancer," Baxter's business partner and best friend Robert Anders told Knox News.

"The man was tireless, infectious with his enthusiasm and optimism, and just was a wonderful role model for all of us here in East Tennessee," Anders, Holston Gases President and CEO, said. "I communicated with Bill, at least in some form, just about every day for 34 years. We did life together and watched each other raise our kids."

Anders will take Baxter's place as chairman of Holston Gases. Baxter's son, Joe Baxter , will become president of the company on Sept. 1, making it a three-generation family company.

Anders will continue as CEO for another year, until Joe Baxter, currently executive vice president, becomes both president and CEO on Sept. 1, 2025.

The list of organizations Bill Baxter helped lead, including Knoxville's Community Development Corporation and the Knox County Election Commission, is too long to name in full. His service ran the gamut, including locally on the executive board of the Fountain City Town Hall to nationally as chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors.

In each position, he took an active and energetic role in creating change.

"Bill gave back on a very local level. He gave back on the state level, and then he gave back on the federal level, and was very, very generous to the public," Anders said.

Baxter was final full-time TVA board chair

Baxter joined Holston Gases, co-founded in 1958 by his father Pat Baxter and Bob Walsh, in 1981 as in-house counsel after a working for a local law firm. He became president in 1985 and oversaw a period of rapid growth.

Holston Gases, still family-owned and based in Knoxville, is one of the largest industrial gas and welding supply companies in the nation. It has 42 locations in six states – Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina – and serves customers in six other states.

Baxter turned his attention to the state level in 1995, when Gov. Don Sundquist selected him to serve on the state board for economic growth. In 1997, Sundquist named him commissioner of economic and community development.

Under his watch, Southern Business and Development magazine named Tennessee its state of the year in 1999. Baxter left the post of Tennessee's chief business recruiter in 2000 after a record $7 billion year for private investment in the state from new and expanding companies, including General Motors and Nissan.

He returned to Holston Gases, and to the question of whether he would mount a bid for governor in 2002. He decided a few months after leaving Sundquist's cabinet not to run to replace him.

Instead, Baxter got a call from the top of the federal government. In 2001, President George W. Bush nominated Baxter to the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors. Bush later named him chairman of the board in 2005, a title he held for two years.

Baxter was the final full-time chairman of TVA, thanks to a 2005 act of Congress that changed the federal utility's board from a full-time, three-member body to a part-time, nine-member body with five-year terms.

After leaving his TVA post to honor the new legislation, which did not apply to his longer term, Baxter returned to Holston Gases as chairman. He held the position until his death.

Baxter beloved by Knoxville, Jackson Hole communities

Baxter was a true native son of Knoxville, growing up in Fountain City and graduating from Central High School in 1971. He received a bachelor's degree from Duke University in 1975 and a law degree from the University of Tennessee in 1978, where he replaced Jimmy Haslam as president of Knox County Young Republicans.

He extended his local philanthropy as an ambitious campaign chairman for United Way in 1997.

As a former chairman of the board of Zoo Knoxville, he could often be seen at zoo events dressed in elaborate costumes alongside his wife Ginger Baxter (née Temple). The zoo even named a newborn giraffe "Baxter" in his honor in 1998.

He shared his dedication for local communities with another beloved place: Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Baxter fell in love with the resort town during his first visit in the 1990s.

In 2004, he purchased the historic Wort Hotel in Jackson Hole and embarked on a renovation that helped the hotel achieve a coveted Four Diamond designation from AAA in 2008. Baxter told the Knoxville News Sentinel at the time that every dollar the hotel made was reinvested into its operations.

Staff at the hotel remarked on Baxter's friendliness, which set them at ease. Jim Waldrop, president of Silver Dollar, Inc., which manages the hotel, mourned Baxter's passing in a Facebook post.

“It is with a very heavy heart that I announce the passing of Bill Baxter, a great man, visionary, and philanthropist," Waldrop said. "His compassionate leadership, love of life and community, music, friends, and family have made a lasting impression on us all. Rest in peace, Bill Baxter.”

Baxter purchased the iconic Million Dollar Cowboy Bar nearby the Wort Hotel in 2017.

Across their life together, Baxter and his wife of 45 years witnessed world history. They were in Beijing during the Tiananmen Square massacres in 1989 while traveling for business. As they told the Knoxville News Sentinel, they were warned by Chinese students that a violent conflict was brewing and were later advised by U.S. officials to leave the country.

The pair also maintained a sprawling hilltop garden in Fountain City that earned the attention of Southern Living Magazine in 2012 . Baxter died surrounded by family at that same home on Black Oak Ridge.

Baxter is survived by his wife Ginger, their four children and nine grandchildren, and his sister, Jennifer Gozwitz. A private celebration of life will be held at the Gentry Griffey Funeral Chapel. In lieu of flowers, the Baxter family has asked for donations to the Central High School Foundation .

Daniel Dassow is a growth and development reporter focused on technology and energy. Phone 423-637-0878. Email daniel.dassow@knoxnews.com .

Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe .

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Bill Baxter, 'tireless' Knoxville servant who led family's Holston Gases, dies at 71