John Lewis Shackelford

Graveside Services for Jonathan L. Shackelford will be held at 1:00 PM Monday, June 20, 2011 from the Fort Sumner Cemetery, Charlie Overton will officaite. Pallbearers will be John "Pop" Carey, James Carey, John Carey, and Shawn Carey. Honorary bearers will be Dylan Carey, Brandon Carey, David Gauna, Scott Phillips, and Mac Dan Winn along with all his friends from coast to coast. Visitation hours for family and friends will be Sunday from 4PM to 7PM and Monday from 10 AM until 12:30 PM. John,age 46 of Portales and formerly of Fort Sumner died unexpectedly on Thursday, June 16, 2011 in Lubbock, Texas. He was born May 16, 1965 in Lancaster, PA to the home of Fred and Charlotte (Jennings) Shackelford. He attended schools in Pennsylvania and Maryland. According to his family he graduated from the school of Hard Knocks. John married Jean Carey on October 19, 1998 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He worked for several years in bridge construction and as a carpenters apprentice. For the past 25 years he has worked as a truck driver and drove for many companies including Navajo Trucking, Dave Crockett, Scott Dickerman and most recently for Mack Dan Winn. He was known to many in Fort Sumner as "Exon John" for the years he worked for the local Exon company. To his family he was "Number One Dad", he loved fishing, hunting, shooting, and throwing anything with meat on the Bar B Que grill. John made his home in Fort Sumner in 1982 and his second home in Portales in 1993. He is preceded in death by his "Mommy" mother-in-law Jean Carey; his father Fred Shackelford; and his maternal "Gram Mom" Jennings. Survivors include his wife Jean Shackelford of Portales; two sons James Carey and wife Nicole of Van Buren, ARK; John Carey and Chelsea Spill of Tulia, TX; one grandson Dylan James "AKA #11" Carey of Van Buren, ARK; his father-in-law, John "Pop" Carey; two brothers Freddy Shackelford, Markey Shackelford; two sisters Sheila Shackelford and Dee Shackelford along with many other relatives and dear friends. All arrangements are under the direction of Chavez Funeral Home, 804 N. Fifth Street; Fort Sumner, NM (575) 355-2311. To place an online tribute or sign the guest book, please visit www.chavezfuneralhome.com 1-2-3