Mr. John McKinley

Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you that where I AM you will be also.  I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father, except through Me."

On Saturday, December 8, 2018, John Edward McKinley went to that home prepared for him by Jesus. John was 88 years old when he passed at home with his family by his side. He was born to Russell and Alice Camille Arnold McKinley on November 26, 1930 in De Queen on Thanksgiving Day.  He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Lockesburg.  He graduated from De Queen High School, where he played football and was on the tumbling team.  He worked at Hazelwood Dairy, Palace Drug Store and Southern Ice Plant during his school years.

He served four years with the United States Air Force.  The Air Force sent him to communication school in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  He helped rebuild communication lines for air bases over Germany and France.  He received the Nation Defense Service Medal, the Good Conduct Medal and the German Occupation Medal.  When he was discharged from the Air Force, he went to work for Texas Telephone Company in Garland, Texas.  They later became General Telephone Company, which is now Verizon.  He transferred to Texarkana, Texas in 1973 and moved his family to Horatio.  After working for GTE for 34 years, he took early retirement in 1989.  In 1955, he married Evelyn Jeanette Hawthorne and they had three children. He enjoyed hunting and fishing, but most of all, he cherished the time spent with his children and grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his daughter, Rhonda Joyce Coon.

He is survived by his wife of over 63 years, Evelyn McKinley, two sons and a daughter-in-law, Ronald Edward McKinley of Horatio, and Jerry Randal and Sonya McKinley of De Queen; three grandchildren, Reagan Lynn McKinley of Bryant, Arkansas, Tiffany and her husband, Jeremy Craig of Grannis, and Chris and Katie Winer of Umpire, Arkansas; seven great-grandchildren, Braylon Paul Liggin, E. J., Tristan, Copelan and Crimson Winer, and Emma Claire and Clyde Craig; two brothers, Robert Lee McKinley and Michael Stephen McKinley both of Horatio; as well as, a number of nieces, nephews, other family members and a host of friends.

Funeral Services for Mr. John McKinley will be held at 2:00 P.M., Monday, December 10, 2018 in the Chandler Funeral Home Chapel with Bro. Ronnie Mayes officiating. Burial will follow in the Chapel Hill Cemetery under the direction of Chandler Funeral Home, De Queen.  The family will receive friends from 1:00 P.M. until service time Monday, at the funeral home. You may send an online sympathy message at www.chandlerfuneral.com.