Aledo, Texas - John passed away peacefully on Monday afternoon, August 5th, 2024, at home in the arms of his wife of 56 years, Patsy Garner Lemons. He was 77.
Born and raised in Fort Worth, John accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior at the age of 11 and was a member of Temple Baptist Church, where he sang in the choir and was active in the youth group. He graduated from Trimble Tech High School in 1965 and joined the United States Air Force on August 5th, 1966.
It was at Temple Baptist Church where he met the love of his life, Patsy Garner. They married on March 24th, 1968, and built a beautiful life and family together with three cherished children, Kevin, Kim and Corey.
John served his country in the United States Air Force for 3 years 6 months 27 days as a Sergeant. He was an aircraft instrument systems repairman for jets and all other aircraft and proudly served one tour in Vietnam at Phu Cat Air Base and Tan Son Nhut Air Base from February 27, 1969 – March 1, 1970. He was a hero and was awarded the Bronze Star for valor in combat. He continued to serve his country in the United State Air Force Reserves and retired as Master Sergeant in 1992. John worked from the time he was old enough to sweep a broom in his dad’s cabinet shop. He held many jobs over the years and retired from the Defense Contract Management Agency in March of 2007.
John enjoyed singing in the church choir, had a love for classic cars and fixing them up (sometimes out of necessity), taking vacations with his family of five all over the country, visiting almost all 50 states and then after his retirement, traveling to many countries all over the world with his favorite travel companion, Patsy. He also loved Patsy’s cooking, Diet Coke, pancake syrup on cornbread, Blue Bell Homemade vanilla ice cream, cherry pie, chicken fried steak, and Kim’s chocolate chip cookies.
Nothing brought John more joy than his family and taking care of them. He never missed an opportunity to be a husband, father, father-in-law, or grandfather. He would offer or even show up to help with whatever task before you even had an opportunity to ask. He was known to his grandchildren as “Pops,” and showed up for all the grandkids activities along with “Gigi” and was their biggest cheerleader. He was known for telling stories, cracking all the jokes and quoting the best movie lines, carrying a comb in his back pocket for most of his life, giving hugs freely and being able to fix just about anything and everything. Anyone that knew him really enjoyed him.
John will be dearly missed by his family and many friends. Because of faith in Jesus Christ as his Savior, we have the assurance that he is with His Heavenly Father now singing Jesus’ praises in the Heavenly Choir.
In addition to his devoted wife, Patsy, who lovingly and beautifully cared for him, John is survived by his son, Kevin Lemons; his daughter, Kimberly Thompson and her husband, Carey Thompson; and son, Corey Lemons and his wife, Katie Lemons; grandchildren, Riley, Victoria, Juliet and Henry Thompson, and Kelsey Lemons; sister, Judy Harper of Granbury; and many in-laws, nephews, nieces, and cousins.
A Memorial Service celebrating his life will be held at 3:00 p.m., on Sunday, August 11th, at First Baptist Church of Saginaw, 300 N. Old Decatur Rd., with a reception following at the church. He will be laid to rest privately at the DFW National Cemetery.
The service will be live streamed at the link further down on this webpage, on Thursday, August 15th, at 2:15 p.m. or shortly thereafter, when the service begins.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that expressions of sympathy be made to your local church in pursuit of spreading the gospel message in your community.
First Baptist Church-Saginaw
The funeral home is not involved in the service.
DFW National Cemetery
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