John Thomas Mainor, "Johnny", was born April 27, 1933 in Tifton, GA. He passed away May 2, 2021 at Methodist Hospice residence in Memphis, TN with his daughter Cindy by his side. He had just turned 88 years old. He was preceded in death by his father Leon Martin Mainor, mother Mabel Cochran Mainor, brother Harry Mainor, daughter Melanie Guyer, and his companion of 38 years Theresa Shute.
He leaves behind his children Joseph Michael Mainor of Pickerington OH, Rosalind Miller (John) of Collierville TN, Cindy Grice (Mark) of Southaven MS, Connie Mazur (Richard Parini) of Exeter PA, and Sonya Mainor (James Chrestman) of Grand Junction TN. He also leaves 21 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren (*listed below).
Born the son of a sharecropper, Johnny grew up around the Cuthbert, GA area and graduated from Cuthbert High School, class of 1951. He moved to the big city, Atlanta, and worked 5 years for
National Cylinder Gas Company but decided that wasn't the job for him. After finding a sales job advertised in the local paper, he applied, and a salesman was born! And if you knew Johnny, that was truly the perfect fit! That job with Bendix (know today as Honeywell) brought him to Memphis, TN in 1959. After working and traveling with them for 35 years, Johnny retired for the "1st" time in 1994. However, he never forgot his Georgia roots, making many many trips over the years back to see family.
Johnny's sales territory for Bendix was mainly MS, AL and FL. So in the summer when he traveled, the family would go with him, and he shared his love of the beach and seafood with them. He also loved to fish, whether it was out on the lake in a boat or on the shore or even deep-sea fishing... Didn't even mind cleaning them and fileting them because he knew it was going to be so GOOD!! Fish remained one of his favorite foods all of his life. Johnny was a believer in the 2 week vacations too and drove the family to so many interesting places…Yellowstone, Mt Rushmore, the Badlands, Oregon & the Pacific Ocean, down the coast of CA including the Redwood Forest, San Francisco & the Golden Gate, the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, and even into Mexico and Canada to name just a few.
Theresa Shute and Johnny were introduced in 1982 and were together until her death in 2020. He lovingly cared for her as her health failed. Their interests included travel, dining out with friends, antiquing, MORE antiquing, and owning/operating The Serendipity Tea Room in Bartlett until November 2016. This was Johnny's "2nd" retirement. The last few months were tough for him as his health failed. He missed Theresa, his body was tired, and he was ready to meet Jesus. Johnny said he met the Lord at age 19 and confessed Jesus as his Savior. So we take hope in Romans 10:9 “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Calvary Rescue Mission in Memphis, TN as he was a regular supporter and it was near and dear to his heart. https://calvaryrescuemission.org/
Johnny was a member of Balmoral Baptist Church, a Shriner and a 60 year member of the Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons of TN.
*Grandchildren:
Alex & Layne Mainor. Jennifer, Kim, & Steven Miller. Amy Miller Young (Zach). Becca Grice Chandler (Patrick). Andrew Grice (Kenna). Megan Grice Martin (Nathan). Amber Guyer Fisk & Elise Guyer. Olivia & John Mazur Jr. Landon Johnson, Dalton Bryan, Jordan Panel, Nathan Carter, Presley & John-Wyatt Kauffman, Frank & Jesse Rogers.
*Great-grandchildren:
Mason Miller. Jenson Dees. Noah Young. Emma, Karis, & Bree Chandler. Abe & Laurel Grice. Isabelle & William Michael Bryan. Alana Guyer.
