John E. Faison

Born May 30, 1931, in Yuma, he was a retired firefighter and veteran of the U.S. Air Force.

A visitation will be 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Johnson Mortuary Chapel, where funeral services will be 10 a.m. Wednesday. Burial will follow at Desert Lawn Memorial Park.

Arrangements under the direction of Johnson Mortuary & Desert Lawn Memorial Park, Yuma, AZ.

John E. Faison passed away at his home in Yuma, Arizona on Wednesday, August 24, 2011 with family at his side. He was born in Yuma on May 30, 1931 to a pioneer Yuma family that included his father Lee Wright Faison, a pharmacist, and Claudia Van Alstine Faison.

John was preceded in death by his parents; his siblings, Homer Faison, George Faison, Mary Frances Guidero and Dorana Nickerson; infant siblings, Abner Faison and Elizabeth Faison; former wife, Peggy Faison Parker; wife, Elsie Faison; son, John E. Faison Jr. and son-in-law, Stanley Watkins.

John is survived by his daughters, Margaret Joanny Duffy (Charles), Darnese Jeanne Magana (Stanley), Judith Lynette Watkins, and Lydia Justine Blackwell (Danny). He also leaves behind 15 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild, along with numerous nieces, nephews and other family members. After serving in Wyoming and Alaska with the U.S. Air Force, he returned to Yuma and joined the Fire department for the city where he spent the next 33 years as a firefighter/alarm technician, "jack of all trades" until his retirement. One fond memory is that of John's annual chore of hanging the city's Christmas decorations along Fourth Ave. Upon retiring, he moved to Parks, Arizona full time, eventually spending summer there and wintering in Yuma. He kept busy with his love of mechanics, always tinkering on a multitude of projects, but always finding time to work his crossword puzzles. He enjoyed attending various car and boat racing events with his friends. He also had a long standing love of airplanes and one of the highlights of his later life was getting to be a passenger in a flight of a P51 Mustang. While raising his family in Yuma he thoroughly enjoyed exploring the nearby desert area and numerous camping activities with family and friends, leaving us with memories of good times at "Bent Tree" Our dad, grandpa and friend will be missed but often thought of with a smile and laugh, especially when we see one of his "MacGyver" type inventions because he believed EVERYTHING could be re purposed in a variety of ways!

Visitation will be from 5:00p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, at Johnson Mortuary Chapel. Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. Burial will follow at Desert Lawn Memorial.

Pallbearers will be grandsons, Jason Magana, Joshua Magana, Robert Duffy, James Casey Faison Watkins, Michael Adam Faison Watkins and Craig Ebers. Honorary pallbearers will be Stanley Magana, Charles Duffy, John Vanaken, Don Phipps, Joshua Schmidgall and Daniel Plaza.

In lieu of flowers, donation may be made in John's name to Hospice of Yuma or Yuma County Humane Society.

Arrangements under the direction of Johnson Mortuary & Desert Lawn Memorial Park, Yuma, AZ.!