John W. Cavender

John W. Cavender was born on December 1, 1939, in Kanawha, Two Mile, West Virginia and left this world to be with his lord and savior on February 19, 2024.  John was the middle of five children born to Luther Thomas and Alma Hazel Cavender. John’s early education was in a one-room schoolhouse next door to the house he was born and raised in.  He graduated a year early from Stonewall Jackson High School in Charleston in 1956 and went to work for the West Virginia state lab where he met the love of his life, Ruth Genese Carter. They were married after a brief courtship in September of 1960.  This past September they celebrated their sixty-third wedding anniversary.

John joined the Navy in 1958 and was trained in avionics and electronics.  He was stationed in Jacksonville, Florida and served on a number of ships, including U.S.S. Franklin D. Roosevelt and the maiden voyage of the U.S.S. Enterprise.  During his time in the navy, he traveled the world and had his first son, John Mark.   He was honorably discharged in 1962.  Upon discharge, he went to work at North American Aviation in Columbus, Ohio, where his daughter Kimberly Ann was born.  In 1965, he moved his family to Marietta, Georgia to accept a position with Lockheed at its Marietta, Georgia plant.  There, he worked on planes like the C131 and C5A. They continued to reside in Marietta for the next 36 years and had a third child, Jeffery Wayne.

In 1975 he was transferred to work in Saudi Arabia and elected to quit his job rather than move his family to the middle east.  He then began a career with the United States Postal Service in Atlanta as an electronics technician where he would work in various capacities until his retirement at the age of 62.  The last decade of his postal service career was spent serving full time as secretary/treasurer of the Atlanta office of the American Postal Workers’ Union.

After retirement, John and Ruth moved to Rockmart, Georgia and became active members of the Second Baptist Church of Rockmart.  He also found a group of workout, breakfast and golfing buddies, known as the Workhorses, and he loved spending time with them.

While John was successful throughout his military and work career, work always took a backseat to his family, his community, and to simply having fun.  He loved to give people a hard time and receive it in return, he loved returning to West Virginia to visit his family, and he loved being a Paw Paw to his six grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.  He particularly loved coaching them in basketball, beating them in croquet and Old Maid, and writing poems about their lives and the lives of others he encountered along the way.

John was predeceased in death by his parents, his brother Tom and his wife Naomi, and his sister Sandra and her husband Jim Keiffer.  He is survived by his beloved wife Ruth, his son Mark Cavender and his wife Carla, his daughter Kim DeLoach and her husband John, his son Jeff Cavender and his wife Ginger, his grandchildren, Kevin Dukes and his wife Mallory, Kyle Dukes and his wife Sarah, Savannah Martin and her husband Woody, Abigail Jones and her husband Drew, Lindsey Cavender, and Katie Cavender, and his great grandchildren Noah Dukes, Grayson Dukes, Scarlett Dukes, Kinsley Dukes, Lucas Dukes, Lucy Dukes and Mabel Dukes. Also surviving are his brother, Steve Cavender, brother, Chuck Cavender and his wife, Victoria.

Funeral services to celebrate the life of John W. Cavender will be held on Friday February 23, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. in the Second Baptist Church of Rockmart with Rev. David Warriner officiating and eulogies to be delivered by family members.  Interment will follow in Rockmart Memorial Gardens with the Honor Guard of Brown-Wright Post #12 of the American Legion extending military honors.

John will lie in-state at Second Baptist Church on Friday from 1:00 p.m. until the service hour.

John’s family will receive friends Thursday evening, February 22, 2024, at Alvis Miller & Son Funeral Home from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m.

Pallbearers will include Kevin Dukes, Kyle Dukes, Woody Martin, Mike Hester, Greg Carter, Lee Burch, Drew Jones, and Dr. Harry Harris.

Alvis Miller & Son Funeral Home & Crematory has charge of the arrangements for the funeral of Mr. John W. Cavender.