John H Barbour

John Howard Thomas Barbour, Jr. (affectionately known as John Jr. or Junie) was born to John Thomas Barbour, Sr.
and Alice Mary Lillian (Lela) Patton Barbour in Brownsboro, Kentucky on December 9th , 1924. John Jr. became a
member of Brownsboro Baptist Church as a child, and as an adult became a trustee of the Church. He also kept the
Brownsboro Church lawn manicured.
John Jr. was drafted into the Army Air Corps’ 100th Pursuit Squadron (known as the Tuskegee Airmen) as an aircraft
mechanic in 1942, which later became the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). He served in Belgium, France,
and Italy. After faithfully serving his country for 10 years, he returned to the U.S. and initially settled in Chicago,
Illinois as a truck driver. Years later, he returned home to Crestwood, Kentucky. John changed occupations and
took great pride in being a stonemason. Much of his work still exists around both Oldham & Jefferson County. One
notable project was working on the creation of a wall at the Louisville Zoo.
After 20 years as a stonemason, John Jr. retired and became a proud member of the Oldham County Sherriff’s
Department. As a deputy under Sheriff Wally Nay, John was a constant figure around Oldham County. He could be
found at high school sporting events, the Oldham County Fair, and many other events performing public service
duties and directing traffic. He would volunteer and show up at churches like Brownsboro, Campbellsburg, and
others handling traffic detail.
John was an active member of the Kiwanis Club participating in many of their charitable activities. His favorite
activity was being the Fish Bus Fry Master, where every Friday he could be found frying fish and other items on the
menu for the Club. In 2015 he moved to Frisco, Texas, and became a beloved member of the Frisco Senior Center
where he walked, played cards, bingo, and participated in a host of other activities.
John Jr. was a sports fan. He always watched and rooted for his University of Louisville Cardinals. However, his true
love was baseball. An avid fan and baseball historian, he would watch and talk about his beloved Dodgers for hours
during the entire season. Those talks included late-night conversations with his grandchildren. This interest in
America’s favorite pastime led to a friendly standing wager of 2 gallons of ice cream as the prize for the winner of
the World Series with his longtime friend and neighbor Elmer “Hoppy” Nichter. John Jr. always chose the National
League team.
John Jr. was married to his loving late wife Lylia Mae Jones Barbour for 51 years before her passing in March of
2015. They raised 9-children and were blessed with 19-grandchildren, and 20-great grandchildren. He was called
home to Glory on Saturday, May 14 th at 10:25 am. In addition to his parents and loving wife, he was preceded in
death by his sister Dorothy Barbour, daughter Sherry Sanders-Kaczmarek, Son-In-Law Artie Calbert, and
Granddaughter Enjoli’ Calbert.
Surviving family includes children; Cecile Sanders, Denise Calbert King, Lester T. Sanders (Gloria), Leon Murray
(Marie), Douglas Sanders (Gaylene), John F. Barbour (Marva), Thad Brown (Rosalyn), and Channell Barbour
(William Payne).
Grandchildren; Antonia Kaczmarek, Onairelav Sanders, Artie (A.J.) Calbert Jr., Ciara Calbert, Chase Sanders, Jessie
Murray, Devona M. Grant, Ashley Sanders, Joey Heath, Marissa Sanders, Jordan Sanders, JaRon Sanders, Ben Davis,
Nicholas Davis, Samuel Barbour, Joshua Barbour, Brandon Brown, and Iman Hawkins.
Great-Grandchildren; Jackson Kaczmarek, Mina Sanders, D’Jhanir Harris-Smith, Abanao Madyun, Luna Rogers,
Payton Heath, Harley Heath, Deacon Heath, Cason Lockridge, Tyson Landrum, Carter-Dean Landrum, Makhi Davis,
Sky Davis, Madison Davis, Alex Davis, Mila Brown, Malina Brown, Talia Hawkins, Samson Hawkins, Aurelia Hawkins
and host of nieces, nephews and other relatives and friends.
John Jr. (Junie) Will Truly Be Missed!

In Lieu of flowers please make donations to the Kentucky Boys and Girls Ranch P.O. Box 57 Gilbertsville, Ky 42044

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