John Stanford

Our beloved daddy, father-in-law and grandpa, John Gladden Stanford, 95, fell asleep in our Lord Jesus Christ on Saturday, May 21, 2016. John was born on March 10, 1921 to Walter John & Fannie Mae (Younger) Stanford in Colony, Kansas. He grew up in Colony, and graduated from Colony High School in 1939. He was a good student and an outstanding track athlete. After high school, during the Depression, he worked a variety of jobs, including wheat harvesting in western Kansas, mechanic for a John Deere dealer, building elevators and working for the Kansas Highway Department. John was just 20 years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed in December 1941. He joined the Army in August 1942 and achieved the rank of tech sergeant with the 892nd maintenance and 96th infantry companies. John attended basic training at Camp Walters, Texas. He served throughout the war in the Pacific theater and was stationed on Hawaii, Christmas Island and Okinawa. He endured the Battle of Okinawa, the longest sustained shelling of WWII. He was honorably discharged in December 1945. Our father was a good example of the greatest generation. John married Jeanette Aidele Velthoen February 29, 1948, and they were devoted to each other for 63 years until her death in 2011. They moved to Pryor, OK in 1954 for John's new job with John Deere Chemical plant. His employment there spanned 30 years and two more owners, Nipak & Kaiser. He was a member of the Oil, Atomic & Chemical Union local and served as a union steward and trustee. Upon retirement in 1984, he served Meals on Wheels across the Pryor area. He was a member of Pryor's First United Methodist Church, attending regularly for 57 years. He belonged to United Methodist Men, Elks Club, Methodist Movers, American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. Funeral services will be held 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, May 25, 2016 in the Shipman's Funeral Home Chapel with Reverend Dylan Ward officiating. Visitation will be held from 1:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m., on Wednesday at the funeral home. Burial will be in the Graham Memorial Cemetery. The family wishes to thank the staff of Brookfield Assisted Living Center, Claremore Nursing Home, and Good Shepherd Hospice for their loving care of John in his advanced years. May his memory be eternal. To leave his family a message, please visit his Book of Memories at www.shipmansfuneralhome.com. Arrangements are under the direction of Shipman's Funeral & Cremation Service. John's survivors include his three beloved children, Judith Dunbar (Phil), of Kiefer, Oklahoma, William Walter (Carol), of Claremore, Oklahoma and John Leslie, of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, his four grandchildren, Jason, Christopher, Shea Aidele and John Levi Stanford, as well as two great grandkids, Stiel & Cecilia Stanford. He was preceded in death by his wife, his parents, two brothers, Kennard & Harold, and two sisters, Loree Brickey & Frances Scott; nephew & nieces are Dale Molesworth, Fran Lambdin, Carole Scott and Mary Kline. John was particularly close to his nephew Dale and his wife Carol.

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