Memorial services for John Estes of Dallas will be held on Saturday, August 28, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. at the Shafer Funeral Home, 600 North John Redditt Drive, Lufkin. The conviction takes place in the Garden of Memories Memorial Park at 5205 S. 1st Street, Lufkin. All friends and family are invited to attend or participate in both.
John was born on June 13, 1941 in Lufkin, Texas to parents Clarence Lee Estes and Jewel Kelley Estes. He died on August 16, 2021 at his residence in Dallas, Texas.
John attended public schools in Diboll, Texas, from first to ninth grades, where he excelled as a baseball and basketball player and played in the lumberjack band. After his father’s death, John and mother moved to Lufkin in 1955, where he attended Lufkin High School and graduated with the 1959 class. In the Panther Band, he played tenor saxophone and double bass clarinet and was given the privilege of being selected by the Texas All-State Band. In his senior year, John was also the band’s drum major. John graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1963, where he studied Political Science, and then studied abroad at the Italian University for Foreigners in Perugia, Italy, where he studied International Relations and Art History.
During the summer of 1961 through 1963, John served as Camp Counselor at Tower Pines Camp near Eagle River, Wisconsin. From October 3, 1966 to October 2, 1968, John served in the United States Army. After completing basic training, he was posted to the Pentagon, Army Replacement Branch, as a MOS Administrative Clerk, after which he received an honorable discharge to inactive status with the Army Reserve.
John’s father was Superintendent of Woods with the Southern Pine Lumber Company for 16 years, owned the Diboll Motor Company and retired the local Western Auto Store. His mother was a pianist for the First United Methodist Church in Diboll for over 35 years and was president of the PTA of the Diboll School District for six semesters. She was a member of the first class of Stephen F. Austin State College and has taught in schools in Sulfur Springs and Diboll, Texas.
John’s residences include Seattle, Washington; Monterey Peninsula, California; Marblehead and Boston, Massachusetts; Washington, DC; Houston and Dallas, Texas.
John’s international travels have taken him to 25 countries, many of which have been visited several times. His love for worldwide travel led to self-employment as a “travel guide guru” in Dallas, Texas, after a long career with major publishers across the country and a very early employee at Hotels .Com. John was of the Methodist faith.
John leaves behind his beloved aunt, Frances Kelley Parrish, of Lufkin, Texas; and his paternal first cousins: Lynn Estes Myers and her husband Roy from Lufkin and Ike Estes and his wife Nancy from Sugarland, Texas; and on the maternal side, Morris Parrish and Claude E. Welch from Lufkin, Margie Welch Ballard and her husband Hulon from San Augustine, Texas, Veta Rowin Ondrusek and her husband Gene from Waco, Texas, Sarah Rowin Ritchie from Katy, Texas, Patti Lynn Jackson and Gordon Lynn of San Antonio, Texas; along with a multitude of cousins 2. and 3rd cousins and many personal friends.
In lieu of flowers, if desired, please direct memorials to Southern Methodist University, Gifts Administration, PO Box 650880, Dallas, Texas 75265-9929, or a charity of your choice.
Before the service, a tour of the Shafer Funeral Home in Lufkin will take place on Saturday, August 28, 2021, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Shafer Funeral Home, Lufkin directors.
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