John Keats Abernathy

Named after the English poet John Keats, John was born November 1st, 1930, to Thomas Abernathy and Jessie Utley of Durham, North Carolina. He had a happy childhood growing up with his younger siblings Jane and Bill. After graduating from Oak Grove High School, he joined the U.S. Air Force, where he served as a tail gunner stationed in the U.K. for four years during the Korean War. He had the opportunity to travel extensively around Europe and North Africa before returning to North Carolina, where he married his sweetheart, Annie Chambers.

He transitioned to civilian life with a career at Eastern Airlines, where he was a manager of Systems Control Programming. In 1966, the family moved to Miami, Florida, where John earned his Bachelor’s degree in Management from Florida International University.

In retirement, John and Annie spent many happy years traveling around the country in their RV, often accompanied by their grandchildren. John also took up oil painting, often painting landscapes in the Florida Everglades with longtime friend and fellow artist Sam Vinikoff.

John was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Jane Bongardt. He is survived by Annie, his beloved wife of nearly 69 years, two sons, Sam (Jane) Abernathy of Newcastle, Wyoming, and Ben (Heather) Abernathy of Boca Raton, Florida, his brother, Bill (Barbara) Abernathy, of LaBelle, Florida; 7 grandchildren, Michael (Amy) Abernathy, Chris (Jen) Abernathy, Marjorie Abernathy, John Abernathy, Scott (Jen) Abernathy, Nicole Abernathy, and Caelyn Little; 9 great-grandchildren, Anthony, Kaden, Kaycee, Damen, Quinn, Sebastian, Luke, Blake and Megan.