- John Wiley McChristian, Sr.
April 14, 1934 – May 14, 2023
On Sunday night, May 14, 2023, John Wiley McChristian, Sr. left this earth after a brief illness and went to his Heavenly Father. John was born in Fort Worth on April 14, 1934. He was born to Benjamin Franklin McChristian and Lela Mae Cates McChristian. On the day he celebrated his first birthday, the dust bowl’s worst storm, “black Sunday”, blasted through Oklahoma and Texas. That day brought only one of the many winds of change that came and went throughout his life.
His early years included his siblings Bennie Frank, Lucy, Lela Mae, and Howard. All of his siblings and their beloved spouses have preceded John in death. He was also preceded in death by his grandson, Curtis John Seiwert. His father moved the family from Fort Worth to Big Spring in West Texas to find a drier climate for Lela Mae’s asthma. He and his siblings farmed cotton with their father until they were old enough to find work off the farm. Over the coming years, the siblings, their spouses and the many nieces and nephews visited that old farm often. The youngsters were especially fascinated by the two-hole outhouse. John left High School without graduating to work at the tank car shop at the Cosden Refinery in Big Spring.
At 18 he married 17 year-old Joyce Marie Watkins and they began a life that would veer across the country and back. Throughout their lives together John and Joyce made worship and prayer a priority. Their unwavering faith was a living testament to friends, family, and neighbors.
John loved the adventure of seeing new places and over the next 70 years, they lived in Big Spring, Texas; El Dorado, Kansas; Bakersfield, California; Ventura, California; Davidson, North Carolina; Denison, Texas; Gun Barrel City, Texas; and at last, Athens, Texas. To support his family, and his wanderlust, John took on many jobs and titles. Despite his modest education, he understood machines and could figure out how to solve almost any problem. He worked on railroad tank cars in Big Spring, ran a tank car shop in El Dorado, learned how to repair copy machines in Bakersfield, then fabricated walk-in freeze-dryers in Bakersfield and Ventura; by the time they moved to North Carolina, he figured out how to build an automated line to sterilize, fill and label small glass vials with powdered reagents while satisfying FDA regulations.
In addition to these civilian adventures, John also served in the military. He was a proud member of the Texas National Guard for 10 years and was called to active duty in 1961 at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. During his service he was awarded, “Soldier of the Year” for his battalion in 1961 and spent an afternoon with Audie Murphy as a reward.
At age 65 he retired from the medical product field and began to work in the fields of grass and hay around Denison. He loved cutting and baling hay as he returned to the farming roots he left so many years before. He loved trying to make an old tractor start that everyone else had given up on; or cannibalizing two ancient dump trucks to get one that would run and dump … sometimes. His last 6 years were spent living on Cedar Creek Lake until he could no longer walk down to his dock and then living quietly in Athens, Texas. As his body began to tire and wear out on him, he often told his children that he just wanted “to make it to the party.” He did, and what a party it was. In August of 2022, surrounded by children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews and great grandchildren, John and Joyce celebrated 70 years of marriage.
John is survived by his wife of 70 years, Joyce Marie McChristian, of Athens, Texas. He is also survived by daughter Debra Winter of Kingman, Kansas; son John McChristian Jr and wife Lee Ann McChristian of Athens, Texas; and daughter Connie Seiwert and husband Steve Seiwert of Kingman, Kansas. John is also survived by 11 grandchildren, 19 great grandchildren and 4 great great grandchildren.
A funeral service will take place at Dannel Funeral Home Saturday morning, May 20, 2023. A viewing is scheduled for 9:00am – 10:30am; with a service to follow at 10:30am. Bro. Todd Catteau of Park Avenue Church of Christ in Denison will officiate. Interment will follow the service at Cedarlawn Memorial Park. After the interment, a reception will be held at Dannel Funeral Home, 302 S. Walnut Street, Sherman, Texas, 75090, (903) 893-1171.
In addition to flowers, memorials may be made to the American Diabetes Assoc. (www.diabetes.org)
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1934 - 2023 (89 years)
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