John Waggoner

John Howard Waggoner, was born on July 31, 1940, on a ranch in Salida, Colorado, the first born child of Ted and Corinne Waggoner. He passed away in Abilene, Texas on August 15, 2024 at the age of 84. A Memorial Service will be held on August 29, 2024, 2 PM, at St. James United Methodist Church, 3100 Barrow Street, Abilene, TX. 79605, with Pastor Stephania Gilkey officiating.

When he was 4 years old, his family moved to Florence, Colorado. As a child, he liked to fish with his dad and Grandpa Howard Lloyd. At the age of 13, he learned to hunt with his dad. He delivered groceries from his Grandpa Lloyds grocery store, and as an older teen, he participated in rodeo.

He graduated from Florence High School in 1958. He played football in high school until he got a badly fractured ankle. After graduation, he worked in house construction and in a local garage as a mechanic.

In 1962, he enlisted in the US Air Force. During his 25 ½ year career, he was stationed at Waverly AF Station, Iowa; Kadena AFB, Okinawa; Bunker Hill AFB, Indiana, Pleiku and Cam Rahn Bay, Vietnam; Grissom AFB, Indiana; Ramey AFB, Puerto Rico; Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan; Kunson AFB, Korea; Spangdahlem AFB, Germany; and Dyess AFB, Texas. He retired from the Air Force as a Master Sergeant in charge of vehicle maintenance for the base on April 1, 1988. After retirement from the Air Force, he worked for 14 years as a Correctional Officer, for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He retired from there on May 31, 2005.

During his first assignment at Waverly AF Station, Iowa in 1962, a radar site in Iowa, and during the Cuban Missile Crisis, he met his wife, Carol Jean Crawford, from Garden Prairie, Illinois, who was attending Wartburg College there. They were married on December 29, 1963, and were married 60 years, 8 months at his death.

John enjoyed live theater, the car races, rodeo, wood crafting, volunteering at the Methodist Food Pantry, the Christian Service Center Food Pantry, & the Weatherization Team. He loved dinner out on Friday evenings and playing dominoes or Rumi Cube with social friends Jay & Barbara Swonger, and Ron & Darlene McCaskill. He was a member of St. James United Methodist Church.

He deeply loved his wife, his two daughters, Kristy Lyn Smith of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Kelly Anne Reynolds of Canyon, Texas, and his three grandchildren, Kaitlyn Reynolds of Stephenville, Texas; Jacob Reynolds of Lubbock, Texas, and Jack Smith of Huntsville, Alabama.

He is survived by one sister, Ellen Lyon of Pueblo, Colorado, and a brother, Russell Waggoner, of Florence, Colorado. His parents, Ted & Corinne Waggoner, two sisters, Lois Dickerson and Shirley Russell proceeded him in death. He is also survived by niece, Kathleen Lyon, Colorado, niece Kerry Jones, and a great nephew, Tyler Jones, Pueblo, Colorado.

Please, no flowers. Donations may be made to : Sew and So Pillow Ministry, St. James UMC, 3100 Barrow Street, Abilene, TX 79605. The pillows are heart shaped, and made for cancer patients.