John was laid to rest at Burkett Cemetery, located in an extremely remote, yet beautiful, area between Coleman and Cross Plains, Texas. Folks, when I say remote, I mean
remote- this place is literally out in the middle of nowhere. After arriving at the cemetery, I could understand why John chose this place. It was close to where John grew up in Coleman, it is so remote and peaceful, and finally, it is so
Texas like- and I never met anyone who loved Texas more than John, including myself. The first thing I noticed was the absolute silence. Very, very few cars passed by, no planes flying overhead- just this beautiful, pristine, Texas countryside that John had chosen as the last resting place for his wife and him. It was a small cemetery, yet one of the most beautiful and peaceful places I have ever been to.
There were only a handful of people there when I arrived (and how I arrived is a strange story in itself) and I estimate that by the time the service started, there were approximately 40 people in attendence. However, there had been a memorial service earlier that morning at John's church in Dublin, which drew a large crowd. I did not attend that service.
I only snapped a few shots with my Ricoh GRD, as I did not want to be intrusive at all on such a solemn ceremony, or so I thought it to be. I heard so many stories about John's childhood, that soon, many in the crowd were laughing and shaking their heads as the priest recounted many of these stories. John would have loved this. This turned out to be a celebration of a life well lived, not a time of mourning for a life that had passed.
This is from the front gate as you enter the cemetary.
The small cemetary where John was laid to rest.
The view from John and Jeanne's final resting place.
John was born to a family of very prosperous merchants located in the Coleman area. I believe John was an only child and therefore pampered by his mother and father, but no one, and I mean no one
spoiled John, like his Grandpa did. Whatever John Alex (what his Grandpa always called him)wanted, John Alex got. John was extremely intelligent and was reading magazines and books by the age of 3. One year, John told his Grandpa that he wanted a set of firecrackers for Christman. Now, these were not ordinary firecrackers, these were specially made firecrackers used in Chinatown in New York for the Chinese New Year celebration. John informed his Grandpa that he had read about them, and that this is what he wanted for Christmas. His Grandpa could not find these particular fireworks anywhere in Texas (you have to remember that this was back in the 1950's), so his Grandpa called the City of New York, got some numbers of people to call, and the next thing you know, John's Grandpa had the firecrackers flown into Dallas, where they were met by a courier and hand delivered to John Alex,
on Christmas morning.
As all little boys do, John loved going to the rodeo and live stock shows. All the little boys would dress up in their best cowboy outfits- chaps, hats, boots, etc. But John was the only boy to show up wearing custom, hand-made boots, courtesy of John's Grandpa.
John once owned a pet alligator. Not a baby one that you could buy from the back of magazines back in those days. No, John's was a full grown 8 foot alligator. John told his Grandpa, when he was 8 years old, that he intended to become a zoo keeper when he grew up and therefore, he needed to start working on his own private zoo right away. Grandpa flew in a live, adult alligator from Lousiana. When they let it loose on the property, Grandpa made John promise him there he would not try to feed it or go near it. But John would sneak out sometimes, lay some food near a pond where the gator lived, and then climb up in a tree to watch his pet eat.
John also owned an iguana, that once again, Grandpa had to fly in from the West Coast, as he could not find one in Texas.
Although pampered like this, it made John a better person, instead of some little spoiled rich kid. His Grandpa was a crusty, old hard West Texas rancher who had worked hard for the good things in life and he wanted John to know that there was never any harm in being a dreamer and wanting the finer things in life. And this stayed with John forever and became the basis for John always wanting the best and wanting to live lfe to it's fullest- which he did.
There were so many stories like these that, like I mentioned above, were just wonderful to hear and soon all of us were laughing as we heard them because it finally made us realize that John had done what so many of us only dream about- he lived life to it's fullest with gusto and flair. I remember Jeanne once remarked about she had never met anyone so damn crazy as John, but how she could never imagine life without him, because to know John, was to know
life itself.
