Obituary – John R. Cornwall, Jr.
John Ray Cornwall Jr., was born in Iowa City, Iowa, on August 8, 1936, and entered into rest on December 27, 2022, making him 86 years, 4 months and 21 days old. He was the son of John Cornwall Sr. and Josephine Tomlin Meadows.
John joined the Army out of high school. After his time in the army, he did auto body repair, a park ranger at Alley Springs, a policeman for the city of Summersville and many years at Mountain View Fabricating, where he retired.
His passions include trout fishing, collecting knives and the Cubs. He loved his grandchildren, always pulling pranks on them like placing plastic snakes under his bed to scare them, dancing with his granddaughter to polka music on Saturday nights and going to a Cubs game with his Cardinal fan granddaughter, Ashley.
John was much loved by his twin sister’s children, Debbie Brant, Clifford Jr, (Mianne) Brant, Eddie (Betty) Brant, Jolene Retman, Gary Brant, James Brant and Cory (Judy) Brant. To them, Uncle John was an extension of their mother. They loved him for many reasons but first and foremost is because of how much he loved her.
While in the Army he completed a short tour in Germany where he met and married Teresa Betz. To this union two sons were born, Gary and John. They returned to the states and divorced shortly after.
He later met and married the love of his life, Judy Perin Cornwall, on June 30, 1966. After marrying they moved from Iowa City, Iowa, eventually making their way to Summersville, Mo., where they lived most of their married life. They shared 56 years of marriage and four children: Josie, Justin, Jolene and Jaclyn.
John was preceded in death by twin sister, Joan Brant; brother-in-law, Clifford Brant; father, John Cornwall, Sr.; mother and step-dad, Josephine and Hubert Meadows; mother- and father-in-law Helen and Arnold Perin; and grandchildren, Colby Paulson, Kaylene, Austin and Malcom.
He will be missed by his wife, Judy, of the home; sons Gary (Joy) Paulson of Warsaw, Ill., John (Connie) Paulson of Licking, and Justin (Kathy) Cornwall of Houston; daughters Josie (Kevin) Blake of Summersville, Jolene Turner of Licking, and Jaclyn (Les) Downey of Licking; 18 grandchildren: Casey (Vince) Cooper, Jesse Miller, Lathem Paulson, Megan Paulson, Michelle Paulson, Ashley (Josh) Hall, Ryan (Marcella) Blake, Randall (Sam) Shafer, Shawn (Nichole) Patton, Cheyenne Richardson, Johnua Christopher, Justin (Eryn) Christopher, Mica (Michael) Downey, Mariah (Skoal) Smith, Leslie Downey, Izak Downey, Kaylyn Downey, and Abel Downey; 22 great-grandchildren, Alivea, Hannah, Blake, Isabella, Lyla, Jameson, McKinley, Clara, Parker, Adley, Addison, Adlynn, Cannon, Sara, Jayden, Oceana, Layla, Phoenix, Journie, Jayla, Jose, Jace, Serenity and McCayla.
There will be a family-guided memorial service at Midvale Cemetery on Saturday, December 31, 2022, at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests donations be made to Bradford Funeral Home to help offset the funeral expenses.
