Individual Details

Death

Our Father, John Henry Furr, died at 9 o'clock on Saturday morning, Dec. 6, 2008 at the Casa De Oro Nursing Home located in Dona Ana, NM. He was 82 years of age on Friday. Mom told us Dad would wait until after his birthday to die, and he did. Dad is survived by our Mother, Sudie Allene Brown Furr. They were married for almost 61 years. They eloped on January 28, 1948 and were married in Las Cruces by a Justice of the Peace. Dad was 21 years old and Mom was 16 years young. Dad and Mom have 5 surviving children and their spouses: Sherry Furr, Johna Furr Truelove, Randy & Donna Furr, Rennee & Johnny Holden, and Rhonda & Mike Day. They have been blessed with 16 grandchildren and their spouses, along with 18 great-grandchildren, and many close family friends who are thought of as their children and grandchildren. Dad is also survived by his only Brother, Marshall Furr, his children, Robin Stark and Johnny Furr, and his granddaughter, Ryanne Stark. Dad was born in Bray, OK on Dec. 5, 1926.. His parents were John H. Furr and Addie Aleena Conklin Furr. They moved to the Hatch Valley area in the early 1930's, due to the hardships of the Great Depression in Oklahoma. Their life in New Mexico was not much easier during the Great Depression, and they worked very hard to support themselves. Dad attended elementary schools in Las Cruces, Salem, Garfield, Arrey, and Truth or Consequences during the years his parents moved from job to job. Dad was not able to graduate from high school because he had to work to help his mother and his young brother, after their father's death due to tuberculosis. Shortly after Dad and Mom were married in 1948, they moved to Santa Rita, NM where Dad worked for the Isabel Construction Company in the Kennecott Copper Mine. They returned to the Hatch Valley area in 1951. Dad worked at various jobs in the area, including silver mining in Lake Valley, NM and drilling water wells. In his spare time, he helped his mother farm her little 14 acres of land by the Rio Grande River between Hatch and Garfield. He started working at the White Sands Missile Range facility in June, 1956 as a mechanic. Dad received special commendations during his employment at White Sands for several different projects he worked on. He was on a special team of construction and mechanic personnel who built and maintained the very first NASA radar tracking trailers used in the first space satellite launches, and the first astronaut launches into space in the 1960's. One of Dad's fondest memories was of his opportunity to meet President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1962 when they visited the White Sands Missile Range facility. Dad worked at White Sands for 13 years. In 1969, Dad started his own refrigeration and plumbing business in Hatch, NM. He retired in 1997, but for years afterward, if someone called him with a refrigeration problem, he would do his best to fix it for them. His family and friends will miss John Henry Furr forever, but he was sick for so long and he is now at peace. May God Bless and Keep Him.
Published in the Las Cruces Sun-News on 12/9/2008