Johnny Hanks

2 Corinthians 5:8 "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" 

Johnny Hanks, 89, went home to be with the Lord on September 18, 2025.

Johnny was born in Crowley, LA, on March 20, 1936, to the late Felix and Elta Arabie Hanks. He attended school there until he joined the United States Navy in 1954. He served on an aircraft carrier as a barber and storekeeper for the 8th Naval District. After being discharged from the Navy in 1958, he worked as an iron worker at construction sites such as Cape Kennedy and silos and missile sites in the northwestern part of the US. Johnny then spent several years building construction and doing woodwork in Houston. There, he met the love of his life, Delores Jean Ford. They got married in Houston on October 1, 1965, and relocated to Central Florida in 1992, where they sold his woodwork in a craft store called Just County.

Johnny and his wife of 55 years settled down in Hickory, NC, in 1995. They loved attending church at the First Assembly of God and vacationing with Dee's sister and brother-in-law, Keith and Thelma. Dee was called home on March 27, 2020, and Johnny spent the rest of his time on earth yearning to see her again and be present with the Lord.

In addition to his parents, Johnny was preceded in death by his wife, Delores Jean Ford Hanks; sons, Brian Hanks and Steven Young; granddaughter, Brook Wolfe; great-granddaughters, Riley and Sophie Adkins and his brothers and sisters, Mary, Ina, Agnes, Mable, Joe and Eunice.

He is survived by his children; Ree Bailey (Vance), Russell Hanks, Christine Hanks Wolfe (Michael), Cheryl Hanks Taylor and grandchildren, Jared Bailey (Misty), Brandilyn Hanks, Brandon Bailey, Caleb Bailey, William LB Rankin (Sabrina), Kelend Hawks, Brittany Sebastian (Charlie), Kaley Smith (Aaron) Chloe Wolfe (Shawn), Keegan and Matthew Hanks.

The funeral to celebrate John's life will be 11:00 A.M. Friday, September 26, 2025 at Jenkins Funeral Home with Byron Repass officiating. The family will receive friends from 10:00 to 11:00 A.M. in the Celebration Center of Jenkins Funeral Home, and burial will follow in Athens, West Virginia.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Oxford Baptist Church in Conover.