July 25, 1923 – December 1, 2017 John A. Balkum died December 1, 2017 at the age of 94. He was born July 25, 1923 to Edmund T. and Jodie (Murphy) Balkum of Miles, Texas. He was the fifth of seven children. He married the love of his life, Juanita Harwell on December 16, 1944. They had one child, Bobbie; Juanita preceded him in death July 26, 1986. John was a rancher and sold farm equipment most of his adult life, and lived in the West Texas area until Juanita’s death. At that time, he moved to Grayson County to be near his only daughter and her family. He started his own lawn care business and other side jobs; he finally completely retired January 2010 from his crossing guard job with the Whitesboro ISD. John will be missed by his many early friends and family, but, will be joining many more of his friends and family in heaven, where Juanita will say, “What took you so long, John?” John always had a story or a joke to share wherever he went. He was active in the First United Methodist Church in Whitesboro and with the senior activities at the Neighborhood Facility, until he fell and broke his hip, Feb. 2014 and then resided in Whitesboro Health and Rehab facility until his death. John is survived by his daughter, Bobbie Holle and husband, William, of Denison, Texas; grandchildren: Michael and wife, Twilia, Holle of Anna, Texas; Rodney and wife, Karen, Holle of Whitesboro, Texas; Sharon and husband, J. C. Carey, of San Angelo, Texas. He is also survived by two sisters, Ernestine Watson of Monahans, Texas and Jimmie Sue Pope of San Angelo, Texas, and several nieces and nephews. He has seven great-grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, wife, Juanita, two brothers, two sisters and several in-laws.Honorary pallbearers will be grandsons and great-grandsons.
Graveside services will be in Eden, Texas, at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 5, 2017. Services are under the direction of Meador Funeral Home of Whitesboro, Texas. Memorials may be made to the charity of your choice.
To sign the online registry, please go to www.meadorfuneralhomes.com.