John William Tarpley

Mr. John William Tarpley, 74, passed away peacefully on August 18, 2018 at the William F. Green Veteran’s Nursing home in Bay Minette, Alabama. Before moving to Alabama, John resided in Atlanta, New Jersey and Hawaii. John was born on April 16th, 1944 to Phillip and Carolyn (Sikes) Tarpley in Griffin, Georgia. He graduated from Griffin High School in 1962 and then served in the United States Marine Corp from 1962-1968. John received his BBA from Georgia State University and his graduate degree from Stevens Institute of Technology in Computer Science. He retired after 30 years with AT&T as a Marketing Manager. His job afforded him the opportunity to travel the world, which he enjoyed immensely. John was an active individual and enjoyed the outdoors. He especially loved the ocean and was an accomplished sailor. He and friends from AT&T started a sailing club and together they chartered and sailed boats all around the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. In addition to sailing, he thoroughly enjoyed snow-skiing throughout the United States and Canada. When he traveled, he always took the opportunity to get on a sailboat or don a pair of snow skis and enjoy the great outdoors. He was a genuine, humble and kind individual who always placed other people’s needs before his own. John was a gentleman in every respect. Being kind and considerate of others was the sum of John’s personality. He was soft spoken and comfortable to be around, primarily because he was comfortable with himself. He was preceded in death by his loving parents and dear stepfather, Bill Waller. John is survived by sisters Marian (Jack) Perry and Sylvia Tarpley, brother Kenneth (Marie) Tarpley, nieces Ginger (Jim) White, Kim (Larkin) Daniels and nephews Kyle Cobb and Tonja (Rhonda) Cobb. The Tarpley family would like to extend our gratitude to all the staff for the excellent care John received at William F. Green Veteran’s Nursing Home. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, September 29th at 11:00 a.m. in the Chapel of Dauphin Way United Methodist Church in Mobile, AL. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in John’s name to St. Jude’s Children’s Foundation.