John Meadows

John Marion Meadows, USAF veteran, husband, and father, passed away in the mid-morning of Monday August 24, 2020 in Kerrville. Texas. He was a faithful member of the Riverside Church of Christ in Kerrville, Texas.

John was the only son of Joe and Nellie Meadows of Jackson County, TN. John is survived by his wife Leora, his two sisters Mrs. Louise Binder of Mont Eagle, TN and Mrs. Sue Jones of Atlanta, GA and her husband Bob Jones, his two children Patricia Harriman and her husband Philip of Bixby OK, and John R. Meadows and his wife Lisa of Westminster, CO, his two step-daughters Patricia Spriggs of Clovis, NM and Pam Conditt of Lubbock, TX He is also survived by his five grandchildren who are Steven Pool of Austin, TX,  Sean Young of Baytown, TX, Justin Meadows, Brian Meadows, and Kevin Meadows all three of  Northern Colorado. his great-grandson Benjamin Raddatz of Tulsa, OK, his two step-grandsons Richard Broome of Clovis, NM and Sean Broome of Lubbock, TX. He is also survived by many nieces, nephews and first cousins. John was preceded in death by his first wife Martha Brown Meadows of Nashville, TN, and his two sisters, Joe Ellen Meadows of Sparta, TN and Ann Meadows Bray of Sparta, TN.

John grew up in Jackson County, TN, attended, grade school at Free State and three years of high school at Jackson County High School. After that his family moved to White County. TN, where John attended his fourth year of high school and graduated from White County High School. He later attended Tennessee Tech for one and a half years.

During his senior year of high school John met a girl from Nashville, Martha Ann Brown, and it was love at first sight. In December of 1953, John decided to join the United States Air Force and was sent to Texas for training. During this time, he and Martha corresponded regularly.  After training, John was sent to England for a three-year tour of duty. John and Martha talked about Martha coming to England to join him, but they decided against it because Martha was still in school. John completed his tour in England and returned home in December 1957. He and Martha were married on the 31st of December 1957.

In February 1958, John re-enlisted in the Air Force and was sent to Lowry AFB in Denver, CO. It was there that his daughter Patricia and son John became their beautiful children.

John remained in the Air Force until he retired in 1975. He was stationed at many national and international locations during his career. His family was always with him except in 1966 when John was sent to Southeast Asia for a year, and Martha and the kids could not go. John and Martha's most enjoyable tour was in Germany where they spent four years, and they were able to tour and see most of Europe.

During John's Air Force career, he flew as navigator in the rare B45 Tornado. The Air Force transferred him into a new program that he and a few others would lead, the Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory (PMEL). His specialty was microwave transmission communication equipment. He remained in this program as a leader and an instructor until he retired, and the program graduated thousands of servicemen at Lowry and Ramstein Air Force bases. He was awarded many medals, among the most important were the Air Force Commendation Medal with an oak leaf cluster and the Meritorious Service Medal.

When John retired from 23 years of service in the Air Force, he and his family moved to Texas. John worked for Raytheon Corporation and later the M&M/Mars company until 1984 when he fully retired. During this time, Martha received her realtor’s licenses and worked for a few years as a realtor. Later she worked at a bank as a loan officer until 1993 when she was diagnosed with cancer. Martha was immediately sent to M, D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX.

John and Martha always wanted to travel in an RV and see the country. They travelled as much as they could while Martha was undergoing treatments. They sold their house in Waco, TX and lived full time in an RV on the road from that time forth, returning to M.D. Anderson for her treatments as needed. She underwent treatment their multiple times until she passed away in January 2001.  Martha was a very brave woman to go through everything she went through, she never gave up and John was always by her side. John and Martha are back together again side by side in Old Zion Cemetery in White County, TN.

John and Martha met Leroa and her husband Eddie Conditt (of Clovis, NM) in 1970 in Germany. The four became very good friends and traveled in their RVS around Europeand the United States. Leora's husband Eddie suddenly passed away in 1996.  Leora was a great help to her friends Martha and John while Martha was undergoing treatments.

A year after Martha's passing, John married his longtime friend Leora Conditt in January 2002. John and Leora continued to travel in the RV until March 2004 when they settled down and bought their home in Kerrville,TX. Even then they continued to travel in the RV in the summer, they would return home in Kerrville, TX in the winter.

John stated that he was a blessed man, finding a beautiful loving wife in Martha who gave him two wonderful children and a loving life together. He was blessed again to find another beautiful loving wife in Leora to spend the rest of his life with. HIs final words regarding his wives were "Thank you, Martha and Leora, for a wonderful life."

John will be greatly missed by his surviving family, and friends for his wisdom, fairness, sense of humor, willingness to help others, and protector of our country.

Arrangements:

The family will have visitation on Sunday, August 30, 2020 from 5:00 PM-8:00 PM at Thurman Funeral Home.

Funeral service will begin at 10:00AM on Monday, August 31, 2020 at Thurman Funeral Home. Interment at Old Zion Cemetery.