42 Barkley Sturgill

Barkley Jennings Sturgill was born on July 4, 1928, in Lackey, Kentucky, to Troy B. Sturgill and Dorothy Maggard Sturgill. He grew up in Prestonsburg, where he became a standout basketball player at Prestonsburg High School, earning All-Big Sandy Conference honors twice. His senior season ended prematurely when he suffered a broken right arm during a game, but he recovered to enroll at the University of Kentucky in 1945. A 6-foot-3, 185-pound forward, Sturgill joined Adolph Rupp’s basketball program alongside his older brother, Bill Sturgill, making them one of only two sets of brothers to play for the Wildcats at the same time. Although he appeared in just one varsity game, Fort Knox on December 1, 1945, he was a member of Kentucky’s 1945-46 National Invitation Tournament championship team.

Beyond basketball, Sturgill distinguished himself as a student leader. He was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity, represented the fraternity on the University of Kentucky Interfraternity Council, and participated in the YMCA, the Committee of 240, and the Student Union’s Koffee Klub. During his senior year, he was elected president of Lamp and Cross, one of the university’s highest honorary societies, and was selected to the Division III Intramural All-Star basketball team while representing Sigma Chi. He graduated from Kentucky in 1949 before earning his law degree from Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1952.

Returning to Prestonsburg, Sturgill established a distinguished legal and public service career. He served three terms as Floyd County Attorney and, in 1972, Governor Wendell H. Ford appointed him to the Kentucky Public Service Commission, where he twice served as chairman under Governors Ford and Julian Carroll. Throughout nearly six decades of private law practice, he remained active in civic and economic development across eastern Kentucky. He also stayed closely connected to his alma mater, serving on the Executive Committee of the University of Kentucky Alumni Association and supporting Kentucky athletics as a UK booster. Sturgill married Nancy Rita Lewis in 1957, and together they raised four children. He died on January 9, 2017, at the age of 88, leaving a legacy of service to both the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the University of Kentucky.