John Craig Porter

John Craig Porter was born to John Houston Porter and Connie Fay Craig Porter on October 31, 1940 in Stuttgart, Arkansas. John had 2 sisters, Jane Wright and Betsy Peck. John worked since he was 9 years old. He worked on a paper route, as a grocery clerk, with the Core of Engineers on the river, in the Federal Reserve Bank, as a repo guy for tires, and for Sears and Roebuck. He graduated from Messick High School in Memphis in 1959. Later he graduated from Memphis State University in 1965. He met his wife Linda Leake Porter Sunday School class at Prescott Baptist Church. After college, John joined the Air Force. He and Linda were stationed around the world in places such as Alaska, Okinawa, Illinois, South Carolina, Washington, and Texas. During the Viet Nam War, John was based in Thailand and Korea. They had 2 children, Martha Carol and John Marshall. John retired from the military after 21 years. They moved back home to Tennessee where John started a new career as an aircraft mechanic. He worked for Northwest Airlink and also Federal Express. John retired from FedEx in 2008. He enjoyed retirement by being involved at First Baptist in Collierville, where they made many friends. Later, they moved to Peterson Lake Baptist Church where Linda was the organist and John led the music every Sunday. Before each song, John would talk about that song and how it directly related to his life and to ours. He had many hobbies including leather working, reloading, and gun smithing. He loved spending time with his 5 grandchildren: John Cameron Porter, Madeline Deering, Max Deering, Hope Porter, and Faith Porter. He loved telling history stories to his grandkids. His life was dedicated to serving family, country, church, and his fellow man. His legacy, especially to his kids and grandkids, was sharing his faith and making sure they knew Jesus.