MAYES JOHNIE M

1LT Johnie "John" M. Mayes was a VHPA member who died after his tour in Vietnam on 07/01/2021 at the age of 77.5 from Cancer
Oklahoma City, OK
Flight Classes 68-501 and 68-2
Date of Birth 01/10/1944
Served in the U.S. Army
Served in Vietnam with A/9 AVN 9 INF in 68-69, 361 AVN in 72
Call signs in Vietnam JAYHAWK 16, PANTHER 3
This information was provided by Lynn Stevens

More detail on this person: JohnieMacMayes January 10, 1944 -July 01, 2021 OklahomaCity:JohnieMacMayes, 77, passed awayThursday,July1, 2021 inOklahomaCity. Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 PM, Friday,July9, 2021, attheCallaway Smith Cobb Chapel in Marlow. Burialwill be in theMarlowCemetery underthe direction ofCallaway-Smith-Cobb Funeral and Cremation Servicesin Marlow.Johniewas born Monday,January10, 1944 in Marlow, to Malcolm"Mac" and Eula (Bailey) Mayes. He attended Stover School until his 8th grade year.Johnie completed his high school years atMarlowHigh School and graduated in 1961.Johnie enlisted in theUnited States Army in April of 1964. Aftercompleting his basictraining, he completed his officer and artillery training, followed byFlight School. In flightschool, he learned to fly theUH-1 andOH23 helicopters.Johnniewould go on to receive his LieutenantCommission in 1967 and deployed to Vietnamin 1968. Throughout hiscareerin the Army, hewas awardedwithmanymedalsfor his flightskills and logged over 1400 flying hours.Johnie served two toursin Vietnamandwas awarded theDistinguished Flying Cross on two separate occasions. Afterleaving themilitary as aCaptain, he wenttowork forHalliburton. Between the Army andHalliburton,Johnie traveled, lived, and/or worked in 34 differentcountries. In 2007, fate threwJohnie back into the path of his high school girlfriend, LindaRiley. Itwas notlong aftertheirreconnection, they realized theywere destined to be together.On January10, 2014, they gotmarried andwere blessedwith 7 wonderful years of marriage before his passing.During their years ofretirement, they traveled all overtheUnited States and Canada.Johnie loved tomap out vacations and had a unique ability to find themost unusual and interesting little stops along theway to the destination.Johnie lived the quote "Life isn't aboutthe destination, butthe journey that gets usthere." and he broughtthisto life for all ofthose around him. He enjoyed fishing, hunting,scuba diving, and listening tomusic.Johnie also enjoyed working with leather, traveling, andwinning at differentcasinos(and he always won). Hewas a collector ofmany things and took great pride in hiscollection of knives. Mostimportantly,Johnie loved hisfamily and hisfriends. His absencewill be felt and hewill be deeplymissed. Survivors include,Johnie's wife Linda, Sons, Shawn Claussen andwifeCheryl ofHerrick, SD, andQuentin DeCler ofHouston, TX,Daughters, AngelaMinkos and husband Bill ofHerrick, SD., Avis Bray and Jason Blackburn ofOklahomaCity, Grandchildren ShawnaDiedrich, CoryClaussen andwife Tanya, James Claussen, Katie Lytle and husband Jon, Chris Minkos andwifeChelsea, Shawn Bray andwife HannahGreat-grandchildren TreyDiedrich, Alexis Diedrich, CadeClaussen, AlexLytle, Maya Lytle, Savannah Minkos.Othersurvivorsinclude hiscousins and a host of friendsthat he keptin close contactwith.Johniewas preceded in death by his parents and grandparents. Pallbearers will be: Shawn Claussen, BillHill,JohnnyMackWilliams, BrianDavis, LukeDavis, and TerryBrown. In lieu of flowers,memorialcontributionscan bemade to The Wounded Warrior Project online at www.woundedwarriorproject.org Online condolencesmay bemade to www.CallawaySmithCobb.com

Burial information: Marlow Cemetery

This information was last updated 03/31/2022

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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024