John Paul Stanford Sr.

John Paul Stanford, Sr., 94 years old, passed away Thursday, August 4, 2016. Visitation will be Sunday, August 7th from 4:00-6:00PM and Monday, August 8th from 2:00-3:00PM at Leak Memory Chapel. A Celebration of Life service will be Monday, August 8th at 3:00PM in the Chapel at Leak Memory with burial with military honors to follow in Greenwood Cemetery. He was preceded in death by his wife, Betty Jo Weaver Stanford, and infant twin daughters, Kay and May. He was also preceded in death by his parents, Harold and Lena Barry Stanford, and his three brothers, Harold, Barry, and Dan. Survivors include: son, John P. Stanford, Jr.; daughter, Jo Anne (David) Green; three grandchildren, Stacy (Donnie) Walker, and Stephanie (Jeff) Roarke , William (Kimberly) Stanford; nine great- grandchildren, Shayne, Harris Anne, David, Hudson, and Jack Walker; Stanford and Seth Roarke, Reagan and soon to arrive, Mckinley Stanford. John Paul grew up in the Oak Park & Highland Park areas of Montgomery. In his adult life, he enjoyed gathering annually with old friends and classmates from his childhood at the Highland Park Community Center. During his teenage years, he was a paper carrier for the Montgomery Advertiser and was always proud to share the many stories about the people he met and knew from those days. At the young age of 19, John Paul proudly served his country during World War II by enlisting in the United States Navy. During his tenure with the Navy, he served in Pearl Harbor shortly after the December 1941 bombing where he helped with the salvaging of supplies from the sunken ships. He was Honorably Discharged as a Parachute Rigger Second Class in November 1945. John Paul had the privilege of going on one of the Honor Flights to Washington, DC with other veterans to view the war memorials and Arlington Cemetery. He also gave a personal interview that has been documented with the Library of Congress’ Veterans History project. John Paul was married to Betty Jo Weaver for 56 years until she passed away in August 2004. During their marriage, they lived in several different places while he pursued a career as a livestock buyer with Swift & Company. Upon retirement from Swift, he began a second career with the State of Alabama Revenue Department as a Revenue Examiner. After Betty Jo’s death, John Paul was able to live by himself for almost 12 years where he enjoyed working in his yard and spending time with family. John Paul attended Highland Avenue Baptist church during his childhood, and as an adult attended Morningview Baptist and Eastern Hills Baptist churches.