John D. Sandy Sureddin, Jr.

John D. "Sandy" Sureddin, Jr., age 80, died on Monday, March 14, 2016. He was born on July 8, 1935 in San Antonio, Texas at home. He was a loving husband, father, brother, uncle, cousin, friend, and neighbor. He will be dearly missed by everyone.

He is survived by his wife, Betty; daughter, Michelle (husband Jason); brother, James R. Sureddin (wife Donna); sister-in-law, Mary Sureddin; brother-in-law, Carl Schreiner; numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

Sandy was preceded in death by his parents, John D. Sr. and Fern Sureddin; and brother, Kenneth L. Sureddin.

He was a very intelligent man. He enjoyed reading (especially history and science), all kinds of music (but partial to country), dancing, and the outdoors. He enjoyed being with family during special occasions or anytime. Everyone always looked up to him for information or advice on any subject. When Sandy was growing up, he liked to hunt and fish, ride horses, and play guitar.

He married Betty on July 27, 1968 at Blessed Sacrament Church. They were married for 47 years. Sandy and Betty have been parishioners at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church since it was first built in the late 70's. They were among the 300 founding families of the church.

After graduating from Central Catholic High School in 1953, Sandy served 4 years in the Navy, followed by 4 years in the Reserves. He served during the Korean War on the USS Uhlmann DD687 from 1954 to 1956. He was assigned to the Engineering Division in the Engine Rooms as a machinist mate.

After his service in the Navy, Sandy attended The College of Texas A&I in Kingsville, Texas under the GI Bill. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Physics in 1961. While he attended Texas A&I, he participated in the rodeo, riding bucking horses and bulls. His rodeo name was Sandy Sundance.

Sandy started his career with the Army Map Service in Washington, D.C., which is now called the U.S. Topographic Command. He was assigned to the Geodedic Division as a Geododist, which is a person who specializes in the science of determining the shape, size, area, and curvature of the earth with the precise mapping of continents, other large tracts, or locations of specific points.

Sandy traveled to many countries and continents. He would set up camp to perform gravitational and astronomical surveying. After collection and computation, the data would be sent back to Washington for the purpose of tracking at Satellite Stations. At that time, they were tracking distances to Russia and his work was classified information. He would be gone for months at a time. When he came back home, everybody always enjoyed his stories about his travels.

Some of the countries and continents he worked in were Jordan, Greece, Lebanon, Malaysia, Greenland, Africa, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Palau Islands, Guadalcanal, France, Italy, Iran, Iraq, and Australia.

While Sandy worked in Jordan, he met King Hussein (who was the father of the current King). Also while in SW Jordan, he traveled through the ancient city of Petra. The approach was so narrow you could not drive through, so he rode in on camel. He also visited a large castle in the middle of the Jordanian desert, named Qasr Al Kharanay, which is believed to date back to September A.D. 711. He spent the nights there with his camel. He rode on both one hump and two hump camels. He worked about 7 months in Jordan.

When he was in Saudi Arabia, he drove a jeep across the desert. As he came over a hill, he encountered a movie being filmed and they had to stop production. The movie was Lawrence of Arabia. He met several people in the film. One of the stars was Peter O'Toole, whom he had a drink with.

There were dangers at some of the places he camped – sometimes people, sometimes the natural conditions. Once there was a group of elephants passing through. He was asleep during the day in the tent. The bull elephant stopped close by the tent and trumpeted for the other elephants to come through. It naturally woke him up and he didn't know if he would get trampled to death, but it turned out OK.

Another time he was bathing in the rivers, lying partly in the water and partly on the bank to take a short sun bath. He had his eyes closed; upon opening them, he thought he saw a log in the river floating towards him. He stayed there but as the log moved closer, he could see an eyeball. He jumped up quickly and got out of the way. It was a crocodile.

Another time he was in his tent and there was an animal walking around the tent several times. He had his gun ready to shoot whatever might come in. For some reason, the animal went away, and he never knew what it was.

Some of his better travels were to Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the Vatican in Rome, and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

He retired from the Army Map Service when they closed down the Ft. Sam Houston office. He did not want to move back to Washington, D.C. and was getting tired of traveling and handling equipment. He received many awards for his achievements in his field over a period of 12 years.

About the time he quit, a close friend asked Sandy to join him as a partner in his plumbing business. He studied and received his Master Plumbers license, then received his air conditioning and heating contractor licenses. He worked in that business until he retired.

The family would like to thank Debbie, Brandon, and all the staff at Seraphim Assisted Living Services, all the doctors and staff at the VA, and all the doctors and staff at Legacy Hospice for the special care they all gave to John (Sandy). We deeply appreciate everything done for him to make him comfortable during his long battle with Lewy Body Dementia and the many other health problems he endured.

The family will receive friends from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., Sunday, March 27, 2016, at Porter Loring Mortuary North.

MONDAY

MARCH 28, 2016

ROSARY

12:00 P.M.

MASS

12:30 P.M.

ST. MARK THE EVANGELIST CATHOLIC CHURCH

1602 THOUSAND OAKS

Interment will follow in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in memory of John Daniel Sureddin, Jr., either securely online or mailed to the following address:

Lewy Body Dementia Association

912 Killian Hill Road, S.W.

Lilburn, GA 30047

https://www.lbda.org/ways_to_give