Posted on 03/03/2019
John Moore Granville
John passed peacefully with his children by his side on February 23, 2019 in Seguin, Texas after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
John was born in Houston, Texas on December 14, 1935 to Howard and Marguerite Granville. His family moved to Abilene, Texas in 1946 and resided on South Leggett Drive. He graduated from Castle Heights Military academy in Lebanon, Tennessee May 1954. Then he attended the United States Naval Academy, which he affectionately referred to as "Canoe U" and graduated 1958. He was assigned to the 10th company and was a tiger in the boxing ring.
He served as a company commander in the United States Air Force. After leaving the Air Force, John attended Stanford and received his Masters of Business Administration in 1963. He later moved to Seattle, Washington and worked at Boeing as an aeronautical engineer. He married Judy Endres in 1972 and had two children. He raised his family on 132nd Avenue NE in Bellevue, Washington in a beautiful home he built overlooking Lake Washington. He also owned and operated a Coors beer distributorship in Moses Lake, Washington serving a large part of eastern Washington. For a short while he also had a Magnavox store in Bellevue. In 1982 the family moved to Anaheim, California for two years while John worked at Northrop also as an aeronautical engineer. Afterwards the family moved back to their home in Bellevue where John enjoyed an early retirement. After his divorce in 1995, John moved back to Leggett Drive in Abilene to care for his mother.
A true one-of-a-kind Texan gentleman, John was known for his charismatic personality, winning sense of humor, generosity, complete dedication to his family, and eye-catching cowboy boots. His many friends and family looked forward to his annual holiday card, which was highly entertaining filled with classic John Granville hilarity and often useful quotes. One favorite, "poor planning produces problems" frequently proves true. His favorite sign-off, "Like a lightening bug caught in a lawnmower, I'm delighted to have known you."
He is survived by his children, John Earnest "Earnie" Granville and Laura Ann Canterbury, son-in-law, and two grandchildren. Graveside memorial is May 18th at 10:30am, Oakwood Cemetery in Fort Worth, Texas where John's ashes will be interred in the Granville family plot along side his parents. Reception to follow. John was deeply loved and will be greatly missed by all that knew him.
Published in Abilene Reporter-News on Mar. 3, 2019