Obituary for John Wesley McGirt
John Wesley McGirt, aged 92, of Laurinburg and formerly Hamlet was laid to rest during a graveside service on February 23.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Zebulon Vance McGirt and Pauline Winfield McGirt. He was the youngest and last survivor of five siblings: Alice Louise McGirt Gentry, Zebulon Vance McGirt, Jr., Burnell Shelton McGirt, and Bobbie McGirt Scheuer. His wife of 57 years Dorothy Jane Ketner McGirt, formerly of Hamlet, also preceded him in death.
He is survived by three children Rebecca (Mike) Booker of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, John Stevens McGirt of Crownsville, Maryland, and Julie (Mark) Rorie of Asheville, North Carolina, and two grandsons Garrett Lee McGirt and Darrin Wesley McGirt, of Crownsville, Maryland.
He was a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and served in the U. S. Air Force as a Staff Sergeant in the Military Police during the Korean Conflict. His career in the trucking industry took he and his family to several cities in North Carolina, Rhode Island and Mississippi. He retired in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and enjoyed his golden years at Scotia Village Retirement Community in Laurinburg.
He enjoyed spending time with his family and was proud that all his children graduated from college, one grandson recently graduating and the second one still in attendance.
He loved Empress camellias and brought them as hostess gifts to family holiday gatherings along with a freshly baked fruit cake. He was an avid reader, particularly fond of the classics and history, and appreciated historical war movies and classic PBS documentaries. A devoted news watcher, he always kept current on world events.
He was the last of his generation in his family. The last of those honest, stalwart, unassuming, salt of the earth men and women of the Silent Generation that lived with restraint in their outlook and behavior, and followed the motto “waste not, want not.”
Reverend Chris Hawks, senior pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Hamlet officiated the graveside service. AmVets Post 316 Honor Guard performed full military honors including folding and presenting the American flag to his son, the playing of taps and 21 gun salute. He returned to the land of the long leaf pine being buried in the McGirt family plot next to his parents and siblings, in his home town of Hamlet.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Zebulon Vance McGirt and Pauline Winfield McGirt. He was the youngest and last survivor of five siblings: Alice Louise McGirt Gentry, Zebulon Vance McGirt, Jr., Burnell Shelton McGirt, and Bobbie McGirt Scheuer. His wife of 57 years Dorothy Jane Ketner McGirt, formerly of Hamlet, also preceded him in death.
He is survived by three children Rebecca (Mike) Booker of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, John Stevens McGirt of Crownsville, Maryland, and Julie (Mark) Rorie of Asheville, North Carolina, and two grandsons Garrett Lee McGirt and Darrin Wesley McGirt, of Crownsville, Maryland.
He was a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and served in the U. S. Air Force as a Staff Sergeant in the Military Police during the Korean Conflict. His career in the trucking industry took he and his family to several cities in North Carolina, Rhode Island and Mississippi. He retired in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and enjoyed his golden years at Scotia Village Retirement Community in Laurinburg.
He enjoyed spending time with his family and was proud that all his children graduated from college, one grandson recently graduating and the second one still in attendance.
He loved Empress camellias and brought them as hostess gifts to family holiday gatherings along with a freshly baked fruit cake. He was an avid reader, particularly fond of the classics and history, and appreciated historical war movies and classic PBS documentaries. A devoted news watcher, he always kept current on world events.
He was the last of his generation in his family. The last of those honest, stalwart, unassuming, salt of the earth men and women of the Silent Generation that lived with restraint in their outlook and behavior, and followed the motto “waste not, want not.”
Reverend Chris Hawks, senior pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Hamlet officiated the graveside service. AmVets Post 316 Honor Guard performed full military honors including folding and presenting the American flag to his son, the playing of taps and 21 gun salute. He returned to the land of the long leaf pine being buried in the McGirt family plot next to his parents and siblings, in his home town of Hamlet.