John Thomas Bass

John Thomas Bass, of Round Rock, Texas, departed this life to be with his LORD and Savior Jesus Christ on June 24, 2025, at the sensational age of 99. John was born April 7, 1926, near Hamlin, Texas, to Gertrude Ella Neal Bass and Fred Edward Bass, and was given the name J. T. Bass.

John grew up in the Dallas area during the Great Depression with humble means. He and his six siblings succeeded in enjoying each other and having fun despite the leanness of the era. John also spent much time as a child with his beloved maternal grandmother Dora Judy Shearin Neal, who lovingly called him her “little Jimmy.” He was a great companion to her as a widow on a farm and helped milk the cows, pick cotton, and work the garden.

After high school graduation, J. T. enlisted in the United States Army and served as a medical technician in Japan in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign of World War II. Upon entry to the U. S. Army, it was required that he supply a first and middle name and he was thereafter known as John Thomas, naming himself after his maternal grandfather John Thomas Neal who had died months after his birth.

In 1957 John graduated from North Texas State College with a degree in Biology, with nearly a double major in Chemistry. He proceeded to work in a Houston hospital as a medical technician drawing blood and counting blood cells the old-fashioned way, under a microscope! He humbly said that doctors would call for him because he was so successful with difficult patients.

John met the beautiful Grace Nonee Tedford at the hospital and fell in love with her. He would call her on the phone - from the hospital lab to the hospital insurance office - and play the words of the Jim Reeves song “Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone.” She used to love to tell that romantic story! They were married April 29, 1960, in Houston, Texas, and spent almost 64 years together before she passed away in 2024. John was chivalrous and protective of his bride, served her well, and loved her to the end.

In 1972, John, Nonee, and their daughter Melissa moved to Austin where John began his career at the Texas Department of Health Resources. He traveled around the state registering and licensing thousands of X-ray machines, and per a newspaper article in 1981, he alone was responsible for tracking down those who failed to register. Upon completing 20 years of service with the Texas Department of Health, he retired as the Chief of Industrial Radiography & Reciprocity at the Bureau of Radiation Control.

On the home front, John and Nonee enjoyed working a big garden together every year and always had fresh vegetables for the dinner table. The first thing John would do when he got home from work each day was walk out to the garden and inspect the progress, picking anything that was ripe. John also joined Nonee in her love for roses and they entered rose shows together. He would also participate in her crossword puzzle solving when she would get stuck - or if she put the paper down, he couldn’t resist having a go at it. They also loved playing Texas 42 dominos, and in their later years played classic dominos with family and friends.

Sundays (and Wednesday nights) consisted of the love of Bible study and worshipping their Savior together at church. John was a greeter for many years at Hyde Park Baptist Church as well as Austin Baptist Church where he and Nonee were founding members. John enjoyed serving by setting up the chairs each week for the Sunday service at the temporary ABC location.

John also in retirement fulfilled a desire for woodworking. He built a workshop in the backyard and began creating birdhouses which he gifted to many. One day he showed up with a hobby horse for his grandson,

followed by a doll cradle for his granddaughter, and then fulfilled a request for a puppet theater, as well as other novelty items.

John was an athletic fellow and loved tennis and golf (even won trophies!) He occasionally played golf with a 90-year-old man, which at the time was a fair gap in their ages, but he loved to bring joy to people. He served as treasurer for the Austin Senior Golf Association for years. In retirement, you would regularly see him driving his pickup truck with his golf cart in the back of the truck bed! A beautiful trait of John was that he was content to be himself and never felt a need to impress folks. The last time John was on a golf course hitting golf balls, he was 98 years old!

He was a devoted grandfather and could be found at every Trick-or-Treat candy bucket, many a soccer, football or baseball game, theater performances, school programs and Eagle Scout project. Regularly his truck would be seen at the end of the soccer field and he would be leaning against it, wearing his shorts, tall white socks and a cap!

John was stable, methodical, intelligent, and diligent at all the things he did in life. He was grateful for all that he had and appreciated time spent with the ones he loved. He was a wonderful host and wanted to serve to make everyone comfortable and happy.

Most of all, John was kind and a gentleman with a pleasant demeanor. His eyes twinkled with a joyful spirit and he always had a smile on his face.

It was his mission to make people smile and lighten their load. He would say something witty and unexpected, and laughter would erupt (he would even amuse himself at times!) Everywhere he went he had folks laughing and smiling with his singing and his wit. John loved music, loved to sing, and loved listening to his LP albums on his Victrola record player. He loved his music “smooth” and his favorites were hymns and Jim Reeves.

John was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 64 years, Grace Nonee Hudgins Bass, his parents Gertrude and Fred Bass and his beloved sisters Camilla Duplantis and Nellie Medford, and stepdaughter Dareria Lynne Combs.

He is survived by siblings Freddie Thomas, Jackie Bass, Oleta Holt, and Diana Barnett, and by his children John T. Bass, Jr., Peggy Ann Branton, Melissa Ruth Hill, stepson Randall Tedford, and grandchildren Meagan Word, Alex Branton, Robert John Eino Hill, III, Audrey Grace Hill Campbell, Duane Tedford, Sean Tedford, Daniel Gilara, Jennifer Gilara, Elizabeth Gilara, and many great-grandchildren as well as great-great-grandchildren.

We all delighted in John Thomas Bass, beloved father and grandfather, and he made the world a better place. What a blessing it will be to see him again in Glory!

A visitation for John will be held Tuesday, July 1, 2025 from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm at Cook-Walden/Capital Parks Funeral Home, 14501 North Interstate 35, Pflugerville. A funeral service will follow at 2:00 pm in the funeral home chapel. Following the service, he will be laid to rest with military honors at Cook-Walden/Capital Parks Cemetery.