John Lawrence Hadley's Obituary
HADLEY, JOHN LAWRENCE 86, of Carrollton, Texas rose to be with our Lord and Savior on Wednesday June 4, 2014. John was born in Mexia, Texas on October 19, 1927, to Oscar Lawrence Hadley and LaVera Murray Hadley. He grew up in Kilgore, Texas, in the heart of the East Texas oil fields. After graduating from Kilgore High School, he fulfilled his dream of joining the Navy in September 1945, just before his 18th birthday. His earlier attempts to join the military, starting at age 15, were thwarted by his parents. Once in, he lived life to the fullest and served as a gunners mate on the USS Duluth in the Pacific until October 1948. For his WWII Occupation service, John received a total of 8 medals. John’s work career began at the age of 12 when he was on the concrete crew for Denison Dam that created Lake Texoma. He then worked in the oil fields with his father while completing high school. Upon receiving his honorable discharge from the Navy, he returned to the oilfields. His post war career took him to Odessa where he met and married his wife Phyllis Floann Hodges in 1950. From there, it was off to Saudi Arabia in 1952 for 4 years with Aramco, followed by a year in Corpus Christi and 4 years in Venezuela with Otis Engineering. He joined Double-E in Oklahoma City as Oklahoma District Manager in 1964, moved to Carrollton, Texas in 1965, as Sales Manager, and was eventually promoted to President of the company. In 1982, John formed Hadley Oil Tools at the height of one of the oil booms and suffered through the bust which followed. Resilient as ever, John found employment with Nichols Casing in Oklahoma City where he served as Vice President. During his time in the oil fields, John assisted Red Adair, the famous oil well firefighter, in extinguishing and capping 4 oil well blowouts. He was a member of the National Oil Manufacturers and Delegates Society (Nomads), serving as Executive Vice President in 1974 and President in 1976. John was also recognized as a “Petroleum Pioneer” at the Permian Basin Oil Show in 1976 for his lifelong contributions. John retired from full time work in 1988, but managed a car wash facility part time to occupy his time. With Flo’s help, it was the friendliest, best run car wash in Texas! Customers enjoyed John’s stories about his family. He retired for good at age 75 to enjoy what he loved the most, time with his family. He enjoyed sports – hunting, fishing and watching the Texas Rangers and Dallas Cowboys games with his family. He is survived by wife of 64 years, Phyllis Floann Hodges Hadley, and four children, Carol Hadley Zanoni (Joseph), Debra Hadley Setta (Paul), William Hadley and Sherri Hadley, and Janae Hadley (Harold). John’s 10 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren were his pride and joy. John was preceded in death by his grandmother, Virginia Hadley Dobbins; father, Oscar Lawrence Hadley; mother, LaVera Margaret Hadley Campbell; brother, Arthur Hadley, sister and brother-in-law, Martha Hadley Howell and Dell Howell; and son, Bryan Lawrence Hadley. Visitation will be from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM Sunday, June 8, 2014 at Restland Funeral Home. A memorial service is scheduled for 11:00 AM on Monday, June 9th, at Restland Memorial Chapel, 13005 Greenville Ave. Dallas, Texas. His family would like to express appreciation to each of you for your prayers and kind words at this time of loss and sorrow. We extend our gratitude to the numerous doctors, nurses, aids and caregivers who gave our father the compassionate care he needed during his last months.
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