John O. Kroeze, Sr.

John O. Kroeze passed away at Pleasant Hills Nursing Home on May 25, 2015 (Memorial Day). Visitation will be held from 1:00 to 3:00 pm Friday, May 29, at Parkway Funeral Home. A graveside service will be held at 3:30 pm at Lakewood Memorial Park.

John was born in Jackson, MS on January 5, 1926, the son of Herbert A. Kroeze, Sr. and Gladys Barke Kroeze. He was raised in Jackson and attended Jackson public schools, graduating from Central High School In 1943. He attended Mississippi State University briefly before entering the Army Air Corps (Air Force) in World War II, where he served as a B-29 Flight Engineer.

After the war, he graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he was a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity. Following college he started an investment firm and was later joined by two partners, spending over 30 years in the securities business. He was a former president of the Mississippi Securities Dealers Association and was active in the Investment Bankers Association of America and the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc., serving on many national and regional committees of these organizations. He also served as a director of the First Jackson Savings & Loan Association and was a charter member of Covenant Presbyterian Church.

He was preceded in death by a daughter, Lee A. Kroeze, and brother, Herbert A. Kroeze, Jr. and is survived by his wife, Willie S. Kroeze; son John O. Kroeze, Jr., and wife Kim, of Madison, MS; and sister Jean K. Gilbert of Naples, FL. He is also survived by grandsons Zackery Allen Athearn, Christopher Owen Kroeze and Michael Edward Kroeze; nieces Lynn Kroeze Herlihy and Lisa Gilbert; and nephew Judson Kroeze; and many more extended family members.