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Ole "green" eyes
Biography, Sports Nut, Military Service, Civic Involvement, Inglewood Church, Family History, Loving Memories, Guest Book, Home Page
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John’s first daughter, Nanette, was born on November 11, 1946. He and Ruby divorced a short time later.
After the war, John played professional baseball for two years in the minor leagues all over Texas. John met Dorothy Frederick at a baseball game; he called her Peg. They fell in love and married in March of 1947. Earlier that year, John suffered a severe injury to his pitching arm and the Baseball Club released him from his contract on March 20, 1947. He was devastated; playing "Pro ball” was all he had ever wanted to do.
With his baseball career suddenly over, John had to make a new plan for his life. After much soul searching, John went to into the cotton business. In 1949 he went to work for Cotton Import & Export located in the historic Cotton Exchange Building on Ross Avenue in downtown Dallas.
In 1952, John became a father again when his second daughter, Debbie, was born. She adored her Daddy. She followed him everywhere and tried to do everything he did. She was so much like him in fact that the family nick-named her “Little John.” In November of 1955, Nancy Jan Holland was born into the family.
John moved his family to Grand Prairie in 1956. John loved Grand Prairie. He really felt like it was home. Maybe that was because his grandparents Charles Morgan Bland and Mary Francis Yeates Bland had bought a big house and a farm there from S.A. Fishburn years before he was born. His grandmother named their place “Sunnyside.”
Whatever the reason, John was very active in the community. He served locally and nationally in the Grand Prairie chapter of the Optimist International civic club in several capacities including Lieutenant Governor and District Treasurer. He was named the "Man with 40,000 Sweethearts" by the Epsilon Sigma Alpha
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"Rusty"
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March 15, 1947
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John horsing around
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Biography - JMH continued
Last Updated December 31, 2000 |
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