John Henry Heir

John grew up planting crops, picking cotton and milking cows. He met his childhood sweetheart Leota (Lea) Chambless when she was 8 and he was 11, and they walked hand-in-hand to a one room school house each day.

After graduating from Wills Point High School, John joined the Civilian Conservation Corps for two years, building bridges, roads and parks across Texas. On August 12, 1938, John married the love of his life, Lea. He attended Texas A&M for three years in the Corp of Engineers until the outbreak of World War II when he enlisted in the Army. John's military career in Defense Intelligence spanned 26 years with him proudly serving in Japan, Germany, Panama, Korea and many other military bases in the U.S. After reaching the rank of Lt. Col., John retired and began his next three careers as Personnel Director of the Dept. of Human Resources for 14 years in Austin, Bailiff for District Judges at the Travis County Courthouse, and Doorkeeper at the Texas State Senate (when in session).

Lea preceded John in death after 75 years of married bliss. He is survived by daughters, Linda Holle (Gerald) of Austin and Patricia Karkoska (Harold) of Taylor; grandson, Jonathan Holle (Courtney) of Cedar Park; granddaughter, Alisha Cofer (Rev. Michael) of Virginia Beach; granddaughter, Candice Karkoska of Taylor; and great-grandsons, Samuel Henry Cofer and Jonathan Daniel Holle, Jr.

The family will receive friends from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 29th at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home on North Lamar.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, November 30, 2015 in the Weed-Corley-Fish Chapel with Reverend Michael Cofer officiating. Graveside services will follow at Austin Memorial Park Cemetery, 2800 Hancock Dr. in Austin.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project at www.woundedwarriorproject.org/donate.

Our heartfelt thanks goes out to all the loving caregivers and staff at Pavilion at Great Hills for their tender loving care of "Bubba John".