John Henry Potthoff

John H. Potthoff currently of Bedford and formerly of Athens, Euless and Ft Worth, passed away Wednesday, January 1, 2015. He was born in Quanah, Texas to T.E. and Ruby Potthoff on May 26, 1920. Growing up in Forest Hills, he attended Forest Hill School and Polytechnic High School. He joined the US Navy in October of 1940 and was stationed at Pearl Harbor during the attack on December 7, 1940. During World War II, John served on the USS Lang, USS Kenneth Whiting, USS Cascade and the USS Boxer as a Radioman First Class. He was aboard the USS Kenneth Whiting during the Bikini Atom Test in July, 1946. He was promoted to Chief Radioman in September, 1946. After the war, he had shore duty at Adak, Alaska, the Pentagon and was Chief of Communications for the US Atlantic Fleet in Norfolk, VA. John was discharged from the US Navy in 1960 and stayed on an additional ten years in the US Navy Fleet Reserve. While on leave, he was introduced to Betty Jo Landrum and they married six weeks later on March 2, 1947 in Hugo, OK. She traveled with him to Adak, San Diego, and Norfolk, making their home wherever duty called. Their three children, Tom, Patty and Jean were born in Virginia. In March of 1960, the Potthoff clan moved to Euless, TX. John worked for Texas Instruments Supply Company until his retirement in March, 1980. Shortly thereafter, John and Betty retired to Lake Athens, Texas. Never one to be idle, in 1985 he started Johnnie’s Christmas Tree Farm and was active in the Texas Christmas Tree Association. His “choose and cut operation” was featured in several publications and John was known to give away Christmas trees to needy families. All their grandchildren worked each season on the farm making it a true family business.

He is survived by his wife of sixty seven years, Betty Potthoff; their three children Tom Potthoff and wife Anne of Ft Worth, Patty Helms and husband Rex of Whitney, and Jean Atturio and her husband Charles of North Richland Hills; their eight grandchildren, nineteen great-grandchildren and one great great-grandchild.

Friends are cordially invited to share their memories and visit with the family on Tuesday, Jan. 6th from 5:00 pm – 8:00 at the Shannon Rose Hill Chapel 7301 E. Lancaster in Ft Worth. The funeral will be Wednesday, Jan. 7th from 9:00 am – 10:30 am at the Shannon Rose Chapel with the burial at 11:15 am at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery 2000 Mountain Creek Pkwy Dallas, TX.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations to either The John or Betty Potthoff Endowed Scholarship for Veterans or Children of Veterans, Texas A&M Foundation, 401 George Bush Drive, College Station, Texas, 77840 or the United States Navy Memorial at www.navymemorial.org.