John Paul McCall Sr.'s Obituary
Judge John Paul McCall, Sr. of Dallas, passed away peacefully in his sleep on May 11, 2021. Visitation 3-6 P.M. on May 20, at Restland. Funeral Services 9:30 A.M. on Friday, May 21, in Restland’s Memorial Chapel 13005 Greenville Ave, Dallas, TX 75243. John took his first breath on April 27, 1929 in Fort Worth. He was the second born of four brothers. With a Church of Christ minister for a father, his youth involved multiple moves across Texas, wherever called to serve church needs. John graduated from Northside High School in Fort Worth, where he attempted to start his adult life.
Our country called John to the honorable duty of military service, two years after graduation. He was immediately shipped out of state and served our country diligently from 1949-1951. With an honorable discharge, he began his civil life back in the Dallas Fort Worth area selling Insurance. His employment would pay for a valuable college education at night. He began at University of Texas in Arlington and finished with a Law Degree from S.M.U. in 1961.
Blind dates do work, and John’s life is living proof. In 1958, he met the love of his life, Suzanne Hefner. She was a buyer for Neiman Marcus and clearly had great taste. On December 26, Suzanne had just gotten home from a long day at Neiman’s and her neighbors were trying to set them up. Suzanne was too tired to even entertain the notion of a blind date, but the neighbor persisted. Suzanne acquiesced, and for John, it was love at first sight. John already had a date for New Year’s Eve, and he wanted to cancel and asked Suzanne if that would be acceptable. Both having high character, did the proper thing. Suzanne advised him to keep his commitment, and she would wait until after that date since he had previous engagements. That trust and bond would only continue to grow. They married in October 1960 and remained devoted to each other until the day he died.
October 2020, under the restraints of a pandemic, masks, social distancing, no vaccines, while he was in a nursing home, they delicately celebrated 60 years together. Their love never wavered and romance never flickered. They raised three sons, multiple dogs and cats, all in the White Rock Lake area in their forever home.
After a successful Criminal law Practice, Dallas County voters voted him into office as a County Criminal Judge in 1983. His success on the bench was evident when he was voted the third most popular judge in Dallas by his legal peers. He retired in 1995, but continued on as a sitting Judge for four counties to 2005.
John supported Suzanne when she left her career to advance her education and received her Doctorate from N.T.S.U. Prior to graduating there, she was recruited to E.T.S.U. becoming a full professor from 1972-2004. When her school offered summer foreign exchange studies in England, John and Suzanne acquired their own passports for the first time. Those passports bore over 40 international stamps from trips to Europe and the Orient.
While John was on the bench, he joined and became very involved with the OAK CLIFF LIONS CLUB. He had a gift for singing and it shined during the annual talent show fund raisers. In addition, he would also help sell hundreds of dollars of tickets for the LIONS VISION CLINICS. He was voted President of the club in 1999. His vocal talent also allowed him to also sing in the choir at the First Unitarian Church of Dallas for many years. Moreover, he was a member of AMICA Music International, and the Music Box Society Intl.
John loved to tinker. He was extremely talented and was often working on his musical instruments, configuring computers, or repairing exotic cars. John is predeceased by his father, James; his mother, Gertiece; his brothers, Jack and Joe; his daughter, Dawn.
John is survived by older brother, Jim of Austin; as well as his loving wife Suzanne; his sons, John P. McCall Jr. with his spouse, Victor Taylor of Dallas, Hasbrouck (Brouck) Hansen McCall and his wife, Sally and their daughter, Olivia of Raleigh N.C., Grant Winston McCall and his wife, Leska and their children, Zachary, Nathaniel, Elizabeth, and Catherine.
John will be sorely missed by his Keeshond “Guido” who waits for him at the door. John’s final resting place is next to water in Whispering Waters 1 at Restland Cemetery where he will forever hear the peaceful fountain.
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