John Haston

Johnny Lee Haston was born in his family’s home on a small farm outside of Marlow, Oklahoma, on April 2, 1932. He was the fourth child of Alva Daniel Haston and Lola Lee Miller Haston. Johnny is preceded in death by his parents; his siblings Elma Dean Mock, Dixie Arlene Faith, Alva D. Haston, Jr., Franklin Dealano Haston, Letta Jo Stevenson, Wanda Lou Haston, and Jerry Dean Haston; as well as his daughters, Jo Lynn Haston and Linda Ann Haston. He is survived by his loving wife Annie Louise Haston of Ballinger, Texas; his son John David Haston of Ballinger, Texas; his grandchildren Christina Buchanan of Sherman, Texas, Jeremy and Jennifer Haston of Granite City, Illinois, Siri Bright of Ballinger, Texas, and Sean and Lauren Haston of Elgin, Texas; his great-grandchildren Sean and Mitchell Lozano, Mason Henna-Haston, Sean Haston, Jr., and Vivienne Haston; as well as numerous nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews. John joined the Air Force in 1950 and was stationed in Wichita Falls, Texas. While on leave with his best friend Richard Allen, he was asked to go on a double date. Richard went to his girlfriend Mary Zeiss’s home to pick her up and was told by the mother that the only way Mary was going was if her younger sister Ann could go. John, thinking she was kinda cute, decided not to pick up his date and instead go out with the younger sister Ann. Something must have worked out because they were married on November 3rd, 1951. Their anniversary earlier this month was number 71! While in the Air Force, John and Ann were stationed at a great many places including Lubbock, Amarillo, El Paso, Wichita Falls, Texas, Bangor, Maine, and Phoenix, Arizona. John also spent time overseas in Korea, Vietnam, Guam, Okinawa, and various other temporary duty stations. In the Air Force, John worked many jobs including aircraft mechanic, instructor, and control room director. While in the Air Force, he also built homes that he and the family would move into, and then he would build another one, move into it, and sell the first, all for extra money. He decided to take military retirement at 24 years in 1973, then moved to San Angelo, Texas so they could be closer to his and his wife’s family, and honestly closer to places he could fish. After moving to San Angelo, Texas, he went to work for the school district where he wanted to build cabinets and work toward another retirement. The school district found out about his administrative skills and promptly moved him into the maintenance department office where he quickly rose to the Maintenance Director position. He stayed with the schools until retirement in 1989. I’m quite sure all this was easy compared to picking cotton as a child, but for some reason after retiring, he decided to buy a ranch. I guess he wanted to stay busy because he couldn’t stand just to sit down. John and Ann moved to Ballinger in 2009, where they started attending church at Ninth St. Church of Christ. He was very active in the church, eventually becoming a Deacon and then an Elder. He stayed active with the Church and various organizations like Meals on Wheels and the Carnegie Library until his mind started showing signs of dementia and Alzheimer’s in March 2019. John then moved to Lamun Lusk Sanchez Veterans Nursing Home where he lived until his passing on Veteran’s Day, November 11, 2022, which is appropriate given how much of his life he spent serving this country. He was 90 years, 7 months, and 9 days young. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Association or a favorite charity, in John's honor.