John Philip Garton

John Philip Garton went to be with his friend, Jesus, on November 12, 2015. He was born on May 17, 1924, in Elkhart, Kansas to Reed and Nellie Garton. He was the youngest of three children. His father died when John was 12. Upon graduation from Elkhart High School in 1942, he moved to San Antonio to live with his mother, who worked at Kelly Field in the war effort. He worked for a few months driving an ambulance for a funeral home and then joined the Army Air Corps in December, 1942, at the age of 18.

John trained to shoot .50 caliber machine guns and maintain B-17 bombers. Training took him to west Texas, Nevada, Tennessee, Alabama and Florida. John was assigned to the newly formed 483rd Bomb Group in September 1943. As the new unit trained together at various air bases, he and a buddy passed through Dallas where the buddy’s girlfriend was staying. They fixed John up with a blind date and they hit if off immediately. He and the date married shortly thereafter on December 15, 1943. John and Billie Bess Rice of Fairfield, Texas remained married for 69 years until she predeceased him in 2012.

Bess followed him to Tennessee and then to Florida. In those few months, the 483rd became fully equipped with B-17G heavy bombers and was to deploy to Italy in March and April 1944. In the lead squadron and just 19 years old, John left Florida in March 1944, hopped through the Caribbean and on to Brazil. There, the squadron’s planes underwent preparation for a flight across the Atlantic Ocean to North Africa. Sand storms delayed their departure to Foggia, Italy. Later, when other B-17s arrived in Italy, missions began on March 30, 1944; John’s first being to Imotski, Yugoslavia that same day. John was a Technical Sergeant and served as crew chief, responsible for the seven enlisted men and their plane, “SheHasta”. He turned 20 on May 17, 1944. John flew 50 missions to Yugoslavia, Austria, northern Italy, France, Germany, and Hungary.

John didn’t talk much about his wartime experiences until later in life. Most notable was a mission on May 18, 1944 to the Nazi oil fields and refineries in Ploesti, Romania. This area was heavily defended by anti-aircraft guns and German fighters. He remarked that the pilots groaned when Ploesti was assigned as a mission target. A San Antonio newspaper article later found in his mother’s papers read:

SA Sergeant Flies Crippled Fort Home

Tech. Sgt. John P. Garton, 20, son of Mrs. Nellie M. Garton, has been awarded The Distinguished Flying Cross for participating in a bombing mission on oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania, May 18, an engineer gunner on an air force Flying Fortress from a base in Italy. Concentrated flak harassed Garton’s plane as it made its bomb run and after completion of the run, overwhelming numbers of enemy fighters attacked the formation from all directions, both the pilot and co-pilot were wounded by fragments from a 20-millimeter shell, but were able to keep the plane under control. The citation adds:

“Sergeant Garton, after observing that both were able to retain the controls, manned his guns and aided in driving off attacking planes until a P-38 fighter escort arrived, at which time he took over controls of the Flying Fortress and piloted the plane back to its home base.”

Sergeant Garton previously had been awarded the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters. Prior to entering the air corps in December 1942, he was an embalmer in San Antonio. His wife Mrs. Billie Bess Garton resides in Galena Park, Texas.

John later related that “the landing was smooth, but stopping her was the hard part as I ran into an ambulance at the end of the runway.” He left Naples, Italy by ship in August 1944 after the required 50 missions and returned to the States. He was honorably discharged a year later on September 2, 1945.

After his service, John and Bess moved to Galena Park, Texas near her parents. The first son Ronald Dean was born February 2, 1946 while at Galena Park. They soon moved into a new GI two bedroom house on the north side of Houston. The second son, Billy Reed, was born September 20, 1947, Karen Sue was born October 11, 1948, and Glenda Lee was born October 27, 1950.

In 1951, a friend K.P. Kendall invited John to hear Billy Graham speak who was in Houston. John accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior at that meeting. That was the beginning of his lifelong dedication to serving our Lord. The family joined Adriel Baptist Church down the street from where the family lived. He was ordained a deacon there and served as church treasurer. He played full court basketball on the Adriel team and coached the boys in baseball. As the church grew, John and his boys were there with the other members, nights and Saturdays building a larger sanctuary and more Sunday school rooms. His carpentry skills were excellent.

In 1962, the family moved to a larger house, still on the north side of Houston, and moved their church membership to Bethel Baptist. He and Bess were active members there for the next 50 years. He joined Oak Forest Baptist in 2013 as an inactive deacon. John did what the Lord led him to do.

John loved to hunt deer and fish for specs and reds. The family always had fish in the freezer. His enthusiasm for bay fishing was infectious, and he converted many to the sport over the years. After he retired from Tool Traders, Inc., all a friend had to do was mention fishing and he would take them the next morning. He was always ready to go, boat gassed up and battery charged. Show up at his house at the appointed time and he would cook breakfast, load up, and be in the water, usually in Trinity Bay before first light. He would admonish his guests, “Don’t be late or you won’t get breakfast and we’ll miss the fish.”

At the deer camp, he would wake the fellow hunters in the cabin with the smell of cooking bacon and brewing coffee. There was always plenty of time to eat a good breakfast, get dressed, and leave early enough to get to the stand well before first light. He was looking forward to this year’s season, and his fellow hunters were looking forward to his bacon, eggs and coffee.

Many anecdotes are accumulated over a long lifetime. John went on many fishing trips. His boat sank only once but was on others when they went down. His boat was sunk by the wake of an Exxon tanker in shallow water at the edge of the ship channel. One of his sons was with him. They never fished again near the Houston Ship Channel. One of his grandsons made some posters about his grandfather’s wartime service. He took PaPa to his Boy Scout show-and-tell to speak about the war. In the question and answer time, one scout asked, “Did you survive the war?” PaPa answered “barely”. Ask any relative or friend, they have a story about John.

As his children married and began having children, John and Bess’s family grew larger. Then his grandchildren and great-grandchildren began to marry and they all multiplied. They all knew and loved their “PaPa”.

John leaves behind to cherish their memories of him his four children: Ron Garton & wife Dianne of Baton Rouge, LA; Billy Garton of Waller, TX; Karen Stasko & husband Ken of Grand Prairie, TX; and, Glenda Mathis & husband Mike of Katy, TX.

PaPa will be greatly missed by his 11 grandchildren: James Garton, Erin Garton, Julie Phalen, Leslie Pollard, Sherry Hart, Susan Killian, Barbara Ellebracht, John Stasko, Kelly Orsag, Daniel Denton, and Joseph Mathis; his 16 great-grandchildren: Cullen & Megan Phalen; Luke, Noah, Adam, & Ellie Pollard; Alex Huertas & Daniel Orsag; Bess Blacketer; Klair Yetter, Molly, Blake, Christopher & Kyle Killian; and, Ellarie & Everett Ellebracht. Also 3 great-great grandchildren: Brad Killian, Evie Yetter & Lucy Yetter; 4 nieces: Sandy Cochran, Beverly Porter, Nancy Palmerton, and Donna Taylor; and very special friends: Margaret McGlaun and Patsy Perry.