John Thomas Tanner

John Thomas Tanner, 69, died at home in Raleigh on June 21, 2015, Father’s Day, after a short battle with cancer. He was born on January 8, 1946 in Kingstree, South Carolina to the late Reed Clifton Tanner, Sr. and Corinne Cox Tanner. He graduated from Wofford College in 1968 and received his Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1973, where he later taught a graduate course. While at Wofford, he met his future wife, Converse College student Kathleen Lynne Peoples, on a date arranged by mutual friends. After they graduated and married, John enthusiastically adopted his wife’s native North Carolina as his home and loved it, though he never lost his deep fondness for his birth state of South Carolina.

His life’s work was serving as an advocate for abused and neglected children and for elderly and disabled adults in the state he loved. He spent thirty years of his career in social work administration working for North Carolina, primarily with the Department of Health and Human Services, where he served as the Chief of Adult & Family Services for many years and as the Deputy Director of the Division of Aging. In 2003, he was awarded The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the State of North Carolina’s highest civilian honor, for his service to the state.

In “retirement,” he went on to spend several years as the Director of the Chatham County Department of Social Services. He then spent eight years with the Wake County Department of Social Services, retiring earlier this month. John’s work ethic in all aspects of life from the time he was a young boy until his death was unmatched. He was well-known at work for not only his leadership skills, but also for his fairness, kindness, loyalty, extreme integrity and commitment to getting it “right.” He was easy-going and easy to be around and never one to seek the limelight. He was also forward- thinking and an early champion of equal rights for all regardless of gender or race.

John is survived by his wife of forty-six years, Kathleen Lynne Peoples Tanner, his daughter, Kathleen Peoples Tanner Kennedy and her husband, Robert M. Kennedy, Jr., and by his son, John Peoples Tanner, M.D., and his wife, Avril R. Tanner, all of Raleigh. He is also survived by two grandchildren, Claire Kathleen Kennedy and Luke Peoples Tanner, whom he adores above all else. He was a dedicated and loving father and grandfather who was actively supportive of all that his children and grandchildren wanted to do and be.

John was preceded in death by his older brother Reed Clifton (R.C.) Tanner, Jr., younger sister Susan J. Tanner, and infant brother, Richard, as well as by his mother –in-law, Kathleen H. Peoples, and brother-in-law, Hugh H. Peoples. He is survived by a sister, Elizabeth Ann Clarke, of Burlington, NC, and a brother, Robert V. Tanner, of Pinopolis, SC, as well as by many nieces and nephews, including special nieces Kathy Tanner Johnson and Karen Corinne Tanner and nephew Reed Clifton Tanner, III.

John was a member of White Memorial Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, where a private family memorial service will be held. Interment will follow at Oakdale Cemetery in Mount Airy, NC.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to White Memorial Presbyterian Church, Attn: Jody Grayson, at 1704 Oberlin Road, Raleigh, NC, 27608 or to the Raleigh Rescue Mission at www.raleighrescue.org.

Arrangements by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, 300 Saint Mary's St. Raleigh, NC.